There Is More Than Meets The Eye
by Emily Reznor
Summary: Always the outsider, 17 Year old Kat returns to her birthplace when her granny decides it is time for them to leave. Perhaps what she finds there will make her leave the outsider behind and join the most popular club in school.
1. Chapter 1

The Secret Circle series is one of my favorites by far. I hope that y'all enjoy it. This chapter is a little iffy, I couldn't seem to get it just right, but i figured that it would be okay. I sadly do not own any of the beautiful characters, the only characters that I am able to claim are Kathrine and Granny, the rest all belong to the very talented L.J. Smith.

Please R&R, perhaps very kindly. I know its not totally awesome, therefore i do not need that pointed out to me.

Thank You =]

Amy

* * *

I tried to keep my eyes on the road as I steered my beloved 1969 Ford Mustang Coupe up the eastern coast, getting directions from my Granny every few miles. It was actually a little difficult, because I was too busy watching all the different snowflakes falling on the windshield. We were headed for New Salem, Massachusetts. Which was apparently a small island connected to the mainland by a bridge, Granny had been very vague with the details. She still hadn't really told me why we had to move there, I was a little excited since it was my birthplace, but I'd never seen it before in my life. Not to mention, moving there meant a whole new school, so I was also very nervous. I glanced out of my window at the huge evergreens that were covered in snow and smiled to myself, because even in all the confusion, it was nice to be able to start over. At my old school I didn't exactly fit in, so maybe I could get in with a group of people and have a nice last half of Senior year. My name is Kat, and I'm 17, with long wavy auburn red hair, and dark green eyes.

"Kathrine Marie Smith!" Granny snapped suddenly, bringing my attention to her. "Quit day dreaming and listen to me! Take this exit." She said, knowing me all to well. I grinned sheepishly, doing as she instructed.

"Sorry Granny." I muttered, as we crossed the bridge that would lead to our new home. "What was the name of our street again?" I asked as we drove through a small, ancient looking town. I almost expected to see pilgrims walking around, instead of the teens that were roaming around.

"Its not a street." She snapped, and i hid a smile waiting for her answer. "It's Crowhaven Road." And as if saying the name had summoned it, it loomed just ahead. "Now it'll be the third house on the left." She added as we passed by the first house on the road, a beautiful Victorian style. The second one was the same style, but not quite as kept up. The garage was open revealing a skeletal car, and knees sticking out from under it. As we passed the two houses, I thought I saw some curtains in the window move, but it could have been my imagination.

Almost as soon as I parked, my Granny was out of the car and ready to walk down to one of her old friend's house. She had claimed that she missed them quite terribly, and insisted on seeing them now because just a couple of weeks ago, one of the elderly women of the street -and apparently a life long friend- had passed away. She handed me the house key and told me that she would be back soon and hurried off down the road. I turned around to face the giant house, taking in all of the features. Like most of the houses on this road, it was a two story Victorian, with chipping paint. The house itself was white, while the shutters and molding were a dark navy blue. Sighing, I returned my attention to my car and started pulling boxes from the back seat. We had sold all of our old furniture, because my Granny said that these old houses already had the old, super bulky, furniture from way back when, so the only thing they had to bring were the essentials. I had just loaded my arms with a couple boxes and was about to head inside, when I turned around i was so surprised to see a girl standing there that i almost dropped the boxes.

"Sorry," she said with a polite smile, "I didn't mean to surprise you. My name is Diana." She was about my height, slender, and had long white blond hair, and bright green eyes, just a few shades lighter than my own.

"Oh, no it's okay." I replied, with a slight smile. "I just wasn't expecting to see you." I added, and she laughed.

"And you are...?" She asked, when I had forgotten to give my name.

"Oh, haha. I'm Kat." I snorted at my complete moron-ness and set the boxes down. Man this wasn't awkward at all..

"Well, Kat...I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself. I live in number one." She explained.

"Oh, that's cool. It's nice meeting you, by the way." I said trying to remember my manners, as she glanced around.

"Are your parents home?" She asked, just making conversation.

"I actually live with my grandmother." I corrected. "She's visiting old friends up the road." I added, her eyes widened.

"Old friends?" She asked curiously, I nodded once confused by her reaction.

"Yeah, Mrs. Quincey? They were good friends back before I was born." I explained and her eyes grew even wider.

"Oh. Well Kat, I have to run. See you later." She said, and she practically ran back to her house, leaving me standing there staring after her.

"Well, that was weird.." I muttered to myself as I headed inside loaded up with boxes.

Once all of the boxes were unloaded, I pulled the key charm off of my necklace and headed for my car. Under the back seat was a hidden compartment, and I dove into the car and pulled out a thick green, leather bound book. My prized possession, it meant more to me than my car did, which is saying a lot. It was my book of shadows, and it had been passed down in my family, so the last ones to have it before me were my parents. And again when i turned around someone was standing there for the second time today. It was Diana again, and this time she had a shorter girl with short wavy copper colored hair, and big blue eyes. I let out the breath that hadn't been able to escape, and managed a smile.

"You got me again." I stated, clutching my book to my chest, and Diana smiled. I glanced at the girl next to her and nodded a hello.

"This is Cassie, she lives up the street in number twelve." Diana explained and Cassie waved shyly. "We were wondering if you wanted to come over to my place for dinner." She added. I looked up the road in the direction my Granny had gone earlier, still nowhere in sight.

"Sure why not. Just let me run this inside." I said. I followed them passed the house next to mine where the knees had been poking out from under the skeleton car when we first drove in. Now there was a figure bent over a workbench. It was then that I realized that it was the skeleton of my car, a '69 Mustang Coupe. It made me smile.

When we got inside Diana's beautiful house, she led us into the dining room, made us sit, and began bringing out dishes. When she sat down she and Cassie began filling their plates, and I tried to do the same while making polite conversation.

"Where are you from?" Cassie asked, finally deciding that my one word answers weren't enough to satisfy their curiosity.

"Um, well I was born here. My granny and I moved around a lot. We're coming from Georgia." I replied, glancing between the two of them as they eyed each other.

"What grade are you in?" Diana asked, like she had just remembered I was there.

"Twelfth." I answered. "What is the school like?" I asked, and they looked at each other again.

"Well...It's been having some problems, actually. They should be fixed soon though. Do you start tomorrow?" Cassie asked, and I nodded as someone knocked on the front door. It was Cassie who got up to answer Diana's door. I must have looked confused because Diana explained.

"It's her boyfriend Adam." But her voice sounded kind of hollow, like she was sad. I was about to ask if she was okay, when Cassie returned holding the hand of a tall guy with wild red hair almost the color of mine, and friendly blue-gray eyes.

"Hey Diana..How..." He trailed off when he saw me, eyes widening. "well hello there?" He said, and the three of us girls laughed.

"Adam, this is Kat." Diana introduced us, and Adam reached toward me and I grabbed his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Kat." He said, and I smiled.

"Nice to meet you too, Adam."

"Your the one who just moved in right?" He asked sitting in the chair next to Cassie. "I saw the Mustang in the driveway, Nick will be jealous." He added and Cassie giggled. I glanced quickly at Diana who was still smiling, but had gone quiet.

"Nick?" I asked, directing the question to Diana. She shook herself, as if she had been thinking of something else.

"He lives in number two, he's a senior too." She explained. "You'll probably meet him tomorrow. I think he has auto shop the same time you do." She added, and Adam stared at me skeptically.

"Auto shop?" He asked, and as much as I was starting to like him, I couldn't help rolling my eyes.

"Really? You're one of _those _guys?" I asked incredulously. His eyes grew wide.

"Well, no...it's just that..." He stopped when he noticed Cassie glaring at him too. Diana was biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"Girls can work on cars too." Cassie snapped in my defense.

"I...I'm sorry." He said to all of us, and the tension in the air started to disappear. "So you're a senior?" He asked, wisely changing the subject, I nodded. He would be forgiven for now. I had a feeling that whatever evening he and Cassie had planned had been ruined though.

Soon after Adam arrived, he offered to drive Cassie home, and they left after polite goodbyes. Diana started clearing dishes from the table, and I jumped up to help. Once we had everything off of the table, I insisted on scrubbing the many dishes while she dried them. We continued in companionable silence for a while, just passing the dishes to one another. I felt like I had unexpectedly made a friend, but there was something that was bothering me, and I had to ask.

"You and Adam used to date?" I asked out of nowhere, and her head jerked up toward me, and she nodded.

"Pretty much as long as we've known each other... but he and Cassie are soul mates." She added. I nodded this time, staring her in the eye.

"You know, it's okay if you still have feelings for him. You did just say that y'all were together for a long time." I said softly, and her green eyes filled, and then totally surprising me, she threw her arms around me and began to sob. I patted her on the back saying that everything would be okay. Eventually she calmed down and soon after walked me out saying that she would meet me on the steps in front of the school tomorrow. With that I headed back to my new home hoping that everything would fall into place the way it was supposed to.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning I stood out on the steps in front of the medieval looking high school, taking a long drag from the much needed cigarette in my hand. I knew that it was unhealthy, but it steadied the nerves. And this morning my nerves were acting up, because of the stress of starting a new school. Luckily Winter break was only two weeks away, so I wouldn't have to endure the ridicule of the other students for too long. There was a banner hanging above the main entrance that read,

'_SCHOOL ASSEMBLY THIS MORNING AFTER FIRST BELL. ALL STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND!'_

I had just finished my cigarette, and was stomping it out on the step when someone snatched my backpack from me. I glanced up from the ground and into the dark fierce eyes of a girl with wild dark hair, and she had an accomplice with shaggy blond hair and wild blue-green eyes.

"Oh, look Doug." She said as she tossed my backpack to the boy, "Fresh meat." The boy, Doug, laughed wildly and tossed the bag back to her. out of the corner of my eye, I saw another figure - a guy- coming toward us.

"How clever." I sighed, snatching my bag out of the air before Doug could. I was staring coolly into the slightly widened eyes of the girl, when Diana found me. She glanced at the dark haired girl and then back at me, eyebrows raised.

"Hey Kat, Deborah..What's going on?" She asked.

"Oh, nothing. Deborah and I were just getting to know each other." I replied dryly. Deborah sneered at me before turning away. I noticed that Doug had stopped grinning, and was now concentrating on his shoes.

"You know her. Diana?" She asked.

"Yes, she's _your _new neighbor." Diana snapped, her green eyes flashing angrily. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Doug." She added, looking at the blond boy.

"Sorry, Diana..." He muttered, still not looking up at the rest of us.

"Well don't apologize to me!" She nearly shouted, gesturing to me. He looked like he was about to, but Deborah's mouth was starting to curl into a sneer again.

"It's fine." I said finally, and the four of them -the silent, coldly handsome, dark haired boy was still watching- looked at me, wide-eyed "Don't worry about it. It's okay." I assured Diana, as I fiddled with a cigarette that I was seriously debating on smoking.

"Now, move on." Diana told Deborah and Doug. She glanced over my shoulder, "Thanks Nick." she said to the silent boy, who shrugged and headed toward the doors. Then she looked down at the cigarette in my hands, and her eyes widened. Ah, so she didn't like smokers...

"It's just for my nerves. I'm not like a chain smoker or anything." I assured her, putting it away and she smiled a bit. She looked beautiful in jeans that were so light blue that they looked white, and a baby blue sweater and her long white blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, while I looked like crap in dark blue jeans and a gray long sleeved thermal shirt, my red hair blowing into my face. "So what's the assembly about?" I asked, as if the whole scene that had happened seconds ago never had. We headed into the building. She shrugged.

"I'm not sure...Our school went through a really rough change the last couple of months, maybe they're going to correct it." She said as we took seats on the top row of the bleachers.

It wasn't long after we took our seats that Cassie and Adam appeared, sitting on Diana's other side. They didn't notice that her whole attitude changed when they arrived, but I did. She still smiled and laughed, but it was more subdued, and she avoided eye contact with them unless it was absolutely necessary.

"So, how do you like it so far, Kat?" He asked leaning around Cassie and Diana.

"Well, it's been an interesting morning." I admitted. He and Cassie both had questioning looks.

"She met Deborah and Doug..." Diana explained the whole thing, and Cassie's eyes grew wide.

"When I first got here, they did the same thing to me," She said, "but then Nick saved me." she added just as the coldly handsome Nick himself appeared taking a seat behind Cassie.

"I saved who?" He asked curiously, pulling out a cigarette and digging for his lighter.

"When you saved me from Deb and Doug." She replied. She and Diana were staring at him with wide eyes. He glanced at the cigarette in his hand, obviously thinking about putting it away. Surprising everyone, I tossed him _my _lighter, which he caught easily. He lit the cigarette, handed it back and smiled as Diana and Cassie turned on my with shocked expressions. I just smile and turned back toward the stage.

"Who is that?" I heard Nick whisper to Cassie.

"Kat, she just moved into number 3 on Crowhaven Road." She explained quietly.

"She's a neighbor?" He asked as five other girls -including Deborah- and three other guys -including Doug- eventually sat themselves around us. Then suddenly I noticed that they were the only ones, the other students had taken seats as far from us as possible. I found this strange as I realized something else, all of the kids sitting around me were eerily beautiful, you would think that the other students would want to be close to them just to say that they had been. All of the beautiful kids looked at me curiously, but said nothing as they took their seats.

The vice principle stepped onto the stage and cleared his throat. He looked incredibly nervous to be standing up in front of all of us teenagers. When he had everybody's attention, he began.

"Good morning, everyone. I just felt it was necessary to take a moment to talk to all of you about Mr. Brunswick." There was a murmur around the large room at the mention of the mysteriously missing principal. "It seams that he has disappeared, and quite honestly, I'm glad. I, and I'm sure a lot of you, found his methods were unprecedented. With that being said, everything is to return to the way it was before Mr. Brunswick graced us with his presence." There was an excited stir around the group I was sitting with, it was almost contagious, even though I had no idea what this would mean. "The stocks will be removed from the cafeteria, immediately." I stiffened, and leaned toward Diana.

"He used the stocks for punishment?" I hissed, almost hysterically. Nick let out a hiss of pain behind us, and everyone around us glanced back to see his cigarette glowing a bright red. He quickly stomped it out, cradling his hurt hand. Diana glanced at me, and her expression turned worried as she nodded. Oops, I didn't mean to do that.

"As of now, there will be no need for the hall monitors any longer. While we search for a new principal, I hope you will be confident to come to me with any problems." Mr. Patterson continued, not even noticing the commotion. "And the backroom will go back to its original occupants." He added quickly, causing a bit of an annoyed stir in the room, before finishing, "That's all I wanted to say, now please head to your first periods, and have a nice day." He left the gym faster than the students did. The group was really excited about the backroom, whatever that was. It was all they were talking about.

* * *

As we followed the large group of students out of the gym, Diana kept looking at me strangely. Oh great, so the one person I really wanted to be friends with was totally about to ditch me. That was just so typical. It wasn't my fault that I could call on the elements without meaning to. I didn't ask to be a witch, or an outcast. I just wanted to be normal, to belong. In moments like this, I kind of wished that my witchy granny herself hadn't raised me. I wished that I could have been brought up by normal people, but I knew that even then, I would still have the powers. They would be even more out of control then too. So, I usually brought myself back to being grateful for my granny taking me in and showing me everything. So after mentally calming myself, I awaited the rejection... It didn't come, instead she gathered everyone who had been sitting around us and began introducing us. I was very shocked.

"Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Kat, she's our new _neighbor, _just moved into number three." Diana said, we were standing in the circle of her group, and one of the guys hissed, making fun of my name. I rolled my eyes, and Diana sent a glare in the direction of the joker. "Kat, you already had the pleasure of meeting Cassie, Adam, Deborah, and Doug." She said, glaring at the last two, Deborah's lip curled angrily. I was surprised to see that there were two Doug's, he had a completely identical twin. Doug, who I'd already met, was staring down at his shoes again, his twin was grinning wildly with the same shaggy blond hair, and wild blue-green eyes. I assumed he was the one who hissed. Diana saw me eyeing him, and that's where she started. "That's Chris Henderson, Doug's brother obviously, they live in number eight." Chris winked at me still grinning wildly, I quickly looked away. I didn't want to encourage anything. "This is Faye Chamberlain, she lives in number six," Diana said gesturing to a very voluptuous girl about Diana's height, with long glossy black hair and hooded honey colored eyes, that were narrowed at the moment. "Nick Armstrong, who you've kind of met...He lives in number two with his cousin Deborah." She pointed to handsome Nick, who was watching everyone coolly, not missing anything. He nodded with a slight smile at me, a silent thank you for my help earlier. He had dark hair like Deb's and mahogany colored eyes, like the furniture in my house. "Melanie Glaser, she lives in number four." Melanie nodded as well, her cool gray eyes thoughtful, she had short chestnut colored hair. "Laurel Quincey, she lives in number..."

"Five." I finished, nodding. "My grandmother was at your house yesterday." She smiled brightly, she had long brown hair, and dark eyes set into an elven face. Diana was also smiling.

"This is Suzan Whittier, she lives in number ten." Suzan watched me curiously. She had strawberry blond hair, clear blue eyes, and was very well proportioned. "And Sean Dulany, he lives in number eleven." She finished pointing to a nervous boy, he looked like the youngest, with dark eyes and blond hair. Without the others around, he would probably just blend in with everyone else. I waved awkwardly at everyone, as the second bell rang, and Diana and I headed off to first period.

"Well I that wasn't bad, was it?" She asked as we took seats. I was vaguely aware that other students were staring at us, but i didn't really care. I just snorted.

First period went by relatively quickly, and second as well. Finally it was lunchtime, and I headed to the back of the lunchroom as I'd been directed by Diana, and almost stopped because of the crowd of people standing around the outside. I quickly squeezed through, ready to mingle with these strange, but special kids that I had just met. I didn't want to get my hopes up about anything, because there was still time for it all to become disappointing, but as I pressed forward I got that all-knowing feeling that everything would be alright. With that in mind, I headed inside, ready for anything.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey Everyone,

Thank you so much for being so patient! I know it's been a while. Hopefully I won't have to deal with that again anytime soon=]

So again, Thank you. I hope you enjoy the new chapter even though it's short and it could definitely be better. When I was writing it, I was practically cheering(lol) and my dog Simon kept jumping up and looking at me like I was crazy! It was pretty funny.

* * *

Other than the fact that lunch was pretty awkward- everyone kept staring at me and I got the feeling that the tension between Cassie and Diana was my fault- the day was actually not that bad. I had just left my calculus class and was running late. My teacher had made me stay after class to lecture me about how it was wrong to correct him in front of his other students. But honestly, how was I _NOT _supposed to? His answer had clearly been way off, and was he really just going to let the other students get through his class, get into the real world and be made fun of shamelessly because their teacher hadn't corrected his own mistake? I think not! So after pointing out my very valid points, I practically ran down the emptying hallways to get to auto-shop before the bell rang. I didn't make it. I was just down at the end of the hall when the bell sounded. Luckily I managed to make it into the classroom/garage without tripping over anything. When I walked into the room, all of the students looked up, and not surprising me at all, all of my classmates were guys. All of them except for one guy were paired off amongst six cars. That one guy working on his car alone, was Nick.

"Hey babe. Are you lost?" A buff guy in a football jersey asked, reaching toward me. I smiled sweetly at him.

"No, but if you touch me, it will be you who's lost something." Before he could respond, Mr. Busch walked over.

"Hey there darlin'. Are you lost?" He asked. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"No." was all I said as I handed him my schedule. He looked over it and surveyed me with a skeptical expression.

"Is this a mistake? Do you need to get your schedule changed?" He asked. I sighed.

"No, sir. I've been working on cars since I was twelve, and I've been in shop for the last three and a half years." I tried to explain calmly. Again he looked me over, and snorted.

"Fine. Armstrong," He said as he walked away, we'd already had Nick's -and everyone else's- attention though. "She's with you." There were a few snickers around the room, but Nick just gave them a dry look and they all shut up and went back to work. I totally understood. Nick did not seem like the person one wanted to mess with. Then he glanced at me with a wry smile that made my chest ache, and disappeared beneath the engine hood again. I took a deep breath and walked over to what would now be considered _our _car, and joined him at the rear end of the Vintage Volkswagen Beetle.

"So, what were you planning on working on?" I asked a little hesitant. It was really weird for me to feel shy around anyone.

"Changing the oil. Kat, right?" He said, without looking up.

"Yeah, Kat... Well...do you want to handle to top work and I'll handle underneath? It'll be easier since I'm smaller. Also since we have no Ramps or Jacks!" I said the last part very loudly, and Mr. Busch glared at me. Nick laughed, dark eyes looking up at me.

"Sounds good." He agreed. Obviously he was a man of few words. I crouched down, about to take my position under the car, but he held up a hand to stop me. "Wait." He said unbuttoning his dark green over shirt. He spread it out on the concrete floor, and was left standing in his dark jeans and a white muscle shirt, revealing his very well toned biceps. He wasn't super buff or anything, just in _great _shape. I had to avert my eyes to keep from drooling or saying anything I might regret later.

"Uh...Thanks." I squeaked before sliding under the car and getting to work. It helped that he wasn't in my direct line of sight. That might have been a little distracting. To my surprise, and probably his too, we actually made a pretty good team. There was a very small amount of conversation, mostly we talked about cars. "So is that your Mustang in your garage?" I asked once we finished. We still had a good five minutes of class to spare. He nodded.

"It belonged to my dad." He didn't need to explain the past tense wording to me. Most of the kids on Crowhaven Road were without one parent or both, like me. I nodded slightly as I dusted off his over shirt.

"Yeah, mine belonged to my dad too." He glanced over at me, I was examining the shirt looking for oil stains.

"I saw it this morning. It's in really good shape." He said, leaning back against the car, arms crossed over his chest. I smiled, finally handing his shirt to him.

"It wasn't when I got it. She wouldn't even run, I had to put a whole new engine in her, new tires...everything. My dad didn't leave her to me in great shape." Nick just nodded, dark eyes thoughtful, as he pulled on his shirt. The final bell signaled and we headed out of class. I was supposed to meet Diana in front of the school where I'd waited for her this morning. "Well...uh... See you later Nick." I said when we got to the door. His eyes met mine, he looked as if I had pulled him from some thought.

"Yeah.. See you later." He said, and I left him to his inner thoughts. Right before I turned down another hallway I glanced back, and He was still standing in the doorway watching me go. I smiled when he realized that I'd caught him staring after me, and waved before letting him disappear from my sight.

Out on the front steps I found Diana waiting with Cassie. They were speaking animatedly about something, and were both happy to see me. Apparently there was a winter dance coming up. It would be held the weekend before Christmas here at the school. It was only a couple weeks away. I tried not to spoil their excitement as we walked down the steps and toward the parking. Ugh dances.

"So are you going to go?" Cassie asked me, still excited. I suppressed a groan.

"Oh, probably not. Coming to school without it actually being required is really not my thing." I replied honestly. Who wants to be at school when they don't have to be?

"Aw, come on it would be fun." She urged, Diana was nodding in agreement.

"I don't know. I'm not really into dances." I admitted. "Who are you guys going with?" I asked. "Well I know who _you're_ going with." I said to Cassie. She smiled and blushed. We both turned our attention on Diana. She shrugged.

"I don't know yet." She said quietly as we stood in front of her car. An awkward silence hung in the air for a minute, all of us looking away from each other.

"You could always go with Doug." Cassie suggested. "He's not too crazy... Or grabby" Diana looked skeptical. I thought for a moment. I didn't really know the guys in the group, so I couldn't really suggest anyone.

"What about Nick?" I asked, "He didn't really strike me as the grabby type when I was talking to him in class." I added. They both stared at me. Cassie was wide eyed, as if thinking that _she _should have thought of him. Diana was considering it.

"Maybe... I know you're right about the grabby part.. guess I'll think about it." She said. I smiled.

"Cool. Well I should be getting home. Granny will be expecting a full report of everything that happened today." I said. Diana smiled, opening her door and Cassie walked around to the passenger side. "I'll see you later." I said before turning and heading to my own car. When I got in, and put it in gear I looked up ready to roll and froze when I noticed Nick looking back and forth between Diana's car and mine from his car. I smiled to myself as I pulled out of the parking lot, tires squealing. I felt very confident after that little display, _I _was the one who had his full attention.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everyone!

Decided I'd post a new chapter. I will warn you that I was hyped up on sugar when I wrote it.

Enjoy!

* * *

After a couple of very interesting days, I found myself already happily sinking into a routine. Diana and I were just getting closer and closer. The others seemed to accept me well enough. The only one I still had problems with was Deborah. Faye just watched me, she didn't really talk to me though, it's like she was expecting something. Laurel, Melanie, Adam and Cassie were constant sources of cheerful conversation, they always made sure that everything was going well with me. One day after lunch, I was on my way to my calculus class when the Henderson brothers and Sean appeared on either side of me.

"Hey baby," Doug started.

"Where ya headed?" Chris finished. I had to fight back a smile.

"To calculus." I replied and my smile broke through at the looks of disgust.

"Calculus?" Sean asked.

"But why?" Chris asked. I laughed.

"So I can graduate. That's why." I said, still smiling. "Why, what's up?" I asked.

"Oh, Faye wanted to see you." Doug said.

"She's in the old science building." Chris finished for him again. I laughed, what in the world did she want to see me for.

"Fine. Where is the old science building?" I asked.

"We'll show you." Sean said, and I followed them through the halls and into a building that was black with soot, apparently there had been a fire. There were old crates scattered around the room, and in the middle stood Faye. Her long black mane hanging loosely around her face, and she wore a tight red sweater and black leggings with some killer boots. Her golden eyes were narrowed thoughtfully as she looked me over. I had stuck with my regular jean and simple sweater combo again, and my hair was pulled up into a loose bun. I noticed that the boys had left us.

"Faye." I said with a nod, and she lifted a ruby tipped finger to her lips and smiled a secretive smile.

"Kat. It's so nice of you to join me." She said, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"I didn't really think I had much of a choice." I admitted. "What do you want?" I asked. I don't want to say that I don't like her, but she just seems to rub me the wrong way. She laughed.

"Well, so much for pleasantries, gosh Kat. I was just hoping that we could be good friends." She said, her golden eyes still held her amusement.

"You brought me to a hazardous building to ask if we could be friends?" I asked, letting my own amusement show. Her eyes narrowed at my tone. I sighed. "What do you want, Faye? I'm missing my calc class." I snapped, annoyed.

"I want you to join me." She said viciously. "Aren't you tired of hanging out with all of the goody goodies?" She asked. I shook my head.

"No, I actually enjoy all of the goody goodies. Is that all?" I asked, and her eyes were slit in anger. I rolled my own eyes and turned to walk away. There was a crackle and the room got hot, and I turned to see a ball of fire headed straight for me. I swatted at it and it disappeared. Her eyes grew wide, and I sighed, more annoyed. "I don't think you should ever try that again." I said, and with that I left the building and headed to calculus, somewhat amused.

I found myself uncharacteristically happy to be headed to my auto-shop class that day. I was annoyed at myself for the reason why I was so eager to get there. On my way I passed Faye and if looks could kill, I'd probably be six feet under, I found myself even more amused by this, and was wondering if I should talk to Diana about the situation when I ran right into Nick as we were both trying to enter the classroom. I couldn't help it I laughed out loud as I stumbled against the doorway and landed right on my butt.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention." I said through bursts of laughter, and he stared at me for a second before reaching out to help me up.

"Are you okay?" He said, as I continued to laugh. I nodded trying to catch my breath, and he smiled, which made the process a little more difficult.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just been a really weird day." I explained rubbing the now soar spot on my hip as we headed over to our car. He laughed a little.

"You're probably going to have a wicked bruise." He said, the smile still on his face. I shrugged.

"Ah, better me than you, I guess." I said before bursting into laughter again. He watched me with his lips pressed together waiting for me to regain control. "You might need to keep me away from any of the major car parts though." I admitted sitting on a nearby stool. He just smiled again. I think he had a hard time keeping a straight face around me.

"You said you're having a weird day?" He asked, popping the hood of the car and disappearing behind it.

"Yeah, I think Faye is trying to recruit me into the dark side." I said with a little giggle at my own joke. I heard him snort from behind the hood.

"The dark side, huh?" He asked peeking around the hood at me, and I smiled. "What do you mean Faye is trying to recruit you?" He asked after a minute of us smiling at each other.

"I don't know. She just asked me if I was tired of hanging with all the _goody goodies_." I said, air quoting the last two words. I heard him sigh loudly from behind the hood, as if this wasn't the first time Faye had done something stupid. "Oh, hey!" I said, eager to change the subject.

"Hmm?" He asked.

"Do you have a date to the winter formal?" I asked, and he leaned around the hood to look at me again and shook his head. There was something deep in his dark eyes but I couldn't read it. "Diana wanted to know..." I said, and the something disappeared and his face hardened a little.

"Oh, well I guess I can take her. I guess she and Conant can't exactly go together anymore." He said in a bit of a grumble. I had a question that I knew I shouldn't ask, but I did anyway.

"Did you and Cassie date..?" I asked quietly, and his eyes widened.

"Yeah... How'd you know?" He asked.

"Just a good guess, I suppose." I replied.

The rest of class was spent chatting about the dance, school, hobbies, and of course, cars. Instead of parting ways after class like we usually did, he walked with me to my locker continuing to talk, asking how I liked New Salem, and if I missed Georgia. I was telling all about my life in Georgia as we walked out to the front of the school. Both of us speaking animatedly, he was like a totally new Nick than he had been the last couple days.

"You were in a band? No way." He was saying, I snorted.

"Yes way. Singer/guitarist baby!" I said pointing to myself, and he smiled as we came upon Diana waiting on the steps. We were both laughing when she noticed us. "Hey!" I said excitedly, "I believe you have yourself a date for the dance." I said waving my hand up and down at Nick's side as if he were on display. They both laughed. Nick, still smiling, rolled his eyes at me before turning to Diana.

"Yeah, we can go if you want to." He said, she smiled.

"Great, I guess I'll call you with the details." She said, and he nodded.

"Cool. Well I gotta get going. So...later." He said, and we said bye as he walked off. Diana was staring at me.

"What?" I asked as we started down the steps.

"Do you want to go with him?" She asked quietly. I glanced over at her.

"No, it's cool. Why?" I asked, confused. She shrugged.

"I don't know. You guys just seem to be getting along." She replied. I froze.

"Oh! No, no it's fine. Besides, we're just friends. And you had dibs on him as a dancing bud before I did..." I said stumbling over excuses. She just held back a smile.

"Sure." She said sarcastically and she got into her car and drove away, leaving me standing in my denial.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone!**

**I just wanted to say that I do not own any of L. J. Smith's amazing work, since I stuck pretty close to the book in this chapter. There is more to come soon.**

**Enjoy!**

** Emily  
**

* * *

After a couple more days, things just got weird. It was Friday, and a week away from the dance that everyone was so excited about, and I had this odd feeling that something was coming. It was one of those feelings where you just knew that something was definitely going to happen. It didn't help that all throughout the day the Club members had been giving me these strange knowing looks, even Diana. I was so worried about that feeling that -deja vu- I ran right into Nick as we were both entering our last class.

"Oh geez. Sorry Nick." I said when he reached out to steady me.

"Are you okay?" He asked looking concerned. I quickly squashed the small swell of hope in my chest, reminding myself that he was too good for me, and that I didn't deserve him and he didn't think of me that way. I slumped under the weight of disappointment and worry. Suddenly, I was dizzy and didn't even realize I was falling until he caught me, wrapping his arm around my waist to hold me up. I leaned heavily on the solidarity of him.

"I need to sit down." I said in a barely audible whisper. "I need air.." I added. Without even checking into class, he scooped me up into his arms and was headed down the hallway toward the front entrance. Once outside, he almost ran down the steep steps, apparently not trusting my balance, and gently set me down at one of the picnic tables.A cool breeze was blowing, and it was soothing. It cleared up the dizziness right away. I glanced up at Nick -my hero- who was standing there watching me with a worried expression. "I'll be okay... Thank you." I said, and he sat down next to me. I swayed a little before putting all my wait against the table.

"You don't look too good." He said, almost timidly pressing the back of his hand to my clammy cheek. Our eyes met in surprise at the jolt of electricity that passed between us. He slowly pulled his hand back looking a little dazed.

"I've had this feeling all day that something is going to happen tonight. Everyone keeps staring at me.." I said finally, obviously turning the subject away from the strange jolt. "I think all of the worrying just made me sick." He eyed me in that knowing way the others had, but there seemed to be a bit of annoyance in the look too.

"Why don't I take you home?" He finally suggested. I shook my head.

"No, I'll be okay. I think the worst of it is over." He eyed me carefully, then pulled my bag over his shoulder and led me back up to the school. That annoyed look stayed on his face, even when we ran into Diana coming out of the restroom, only it seemed to get angrier. Diana's green eyes were already wide at the sight of me leaning heavily on Nick, but when she saw Nick's expression, she looked shocked.

"Kat, are you alright?" She asked glancing between Nick and me.

"She has a weird _feeling _about tonight, and everyone watching her made her sick." Nick explained, giving Diana a hard look. The queasy feeling returned.

"It's okay, but I think I do need to go home. The nausea is back." I admitted. Both Diana and Nick looked at each other, debating who should take me. "Diana, you can't miss History. Nick can take me." I said deciding for them, besides spending more time with Nick was just a bonus.

"So, what's going on?" I asked as he helped me into the passenger seat of his car. He didn't answer, and I wondered if he had heard me as he got in, but then he spoke.

"I can't tell you." He said not looking at me. "I'm not supposed to."

"Not even a hint?" I asked with a slight smile, he turned toward me at my teasing tone, also smiling a little. And for a moment, we just sat there smiling at each other. Another jolt passed, and he seemed to shake himself.

"All I'll say is that you need to stop worrying, and just be prepared." and he put the car in park in my driveway. I didn't move, I just watched him curiously and his surprise grew. "I'm sorry, that's all I can say." His dark eyes were brighter than I had ever seen them. I sighed dramatically.

"Fine, I guess I accept that tiny bit of info." I said gathering my things.

"Do you need me to help you inside?" He asked, I sat for a moment checking myself.

"No, I think I'll be okay." I replied. "Thank you for everything, Nick." I added as I climbed out of the car. He waited until I was safe inside before pulling out of the driveway.

"Katherine, what are you doing home so early?" My granny asked, peering through the curtain, after the retreating car. "Was that little Nicholas?" She asked turning her full attention on me.

"Yeah, it was. I'm not sure how he would feel about you calling him little though." I answered. "I didn't feel well, so he offered to drive me home."

"Well, what's the matter dear?" She asked looking concerned.

"Honestly, I've no idea. I had this strange feeling... Granny... I think they know." I admitted, my granny stiffened and then began bustling around the kitchen. Whatever it was, she was in on it.

"How about some calming tea, love?" She asked presenting me with a tea cup and saucer, and a tray of shortbread cookies.

"Okay, at least it'll settle my nerves." I sighed, watching her gather the lemon balm leaves, chamomile flowers, st. john's wort, a small pink rose quartz and water. And while she busied herself with the tea I nibbled on one of the cookies and let my mind drift. I was a little surprised when my thoughts immediately went to Nick, and then to the strange jolt of electricity and the flash, and then to a memory of Cassie talking to Diana about the connection between her and Adam.

Once I had my tea I felt a lot better, and decided to take advantage of the good feeling. I was going to paint, I jumped up from my seat and grabbed a couple cookies to go. I already had my idea. _His _face was imprinted in my mind. My picture was as lifelike as a photograph, capturing the light that had been in his dark eyes earlier. The way his cold features melted when he smiled. The way his hair cast shadows on his face. When I finished, I covered my painting with a cloth and collapsed into bed.

* * *

It seemed like I had only bee asleep for a moment when I woke to the creak of a floorboard. My room was pitch black, but I could vaguely make out even darker shadows.

"...Granny?" I asked the darkness, just before something was pulled over my head, then I was being rolled in my bedsheets. I wanted to scream, but I also wanted to conserve what little oxygen I had. Then I was being carried. I struggled against the tight sheets but it did no good. Suddenly, everything stopped, and I was being tilted and my feet touched the ground. The sheets were removed, but the cap stayed on. The cold cut through me like a knife. I tried to use a little power to warm myself, but it was useless. I was too unfocused. My hands were bound and I didn't dare move.

"Walk straight forward." an unmistakable voice said. Faye. Well this was great. I liked Faye even less than I like Deborah. I wanted to protest, but I figured cooperating would be best, so I walked straight ahead without a word. She chuckled richly. "Stop." She ordered sounding pleased. There was a tug on the cap as it tightened around my throat. "Take one step forward. Turn to your left. Stop. Okay, don't move." Faye snapped and the hood was removed. The rush of Air was amazing. The roar of waves caught my attention, and when I looked up, Diana was standing ahead. She was dressed in a white shift, wearing a diadem with a cresent moon in the center. A wide silver cup clasped her upper arm, and a sort of garter on one led. The master tools. She was holding a dagger. "Turn around." Faye said. I turned.

The first thing I noticed were the candles. There had to be hundreds of them, then I noticed a large circle etched out in the sand with a gap right in front of me. Inside the circle were the the members of the Club. They were all eerily beautiful in the flickering candle light. I had to stop the smile that was trying to form. Diana walked into the circle. I glanced up at her and sme met my eyes with a smile buried deep in hers. The rest of her face was totally serious.

"Who challenges her?" Diana called, calm and clear.

"I do." Deborah responded. Big surprise. Suddenly she was pressing the blade of a dagger to the hollow of my throat. I stared coolly into her fierce eyes. "I challenge you, if there is any fear in your heart, it would be better for you to throw yourself forward onto this dagger than to continue." She said directly to me. "So Katherine," She sneered at my name "is there any fear in your heart?"

"There is no fear in my heart, please continue." I replied smoothly. Deborah looked disappointed.

"Then come in." She suggested. The blade yielded before me as I stepped into the circle, there was a light trickle of blood on my throat. Deborah stepped back and I waited. Diana took the dagger and finished the circle. A sense of finality hung in the air, as if there was no going back now.

"Come to the center." Diana said. "Turn around." I did. Then there were hands on my shoulders spinning me round and round. Members of the Club were shoving and bouncing me in all directions. I realized it was a test, and allowed myself to be bounced around. Finally, hands steadied me and I was once again facing Diana. I was really dizzy but managed to stand tall. "You've been challenged and you have passed the tests. Now, are you willing to swear?" She asked, a smile in her green eyes. I nodded, again fighting back a smile. I was about to be one of them.

"Will you swear to be loyal to the circle? Never to harm anyone who stands inside it? Will you protect and defend those who do, even if it costs you your life?"

"I will."

"Will you swear never to reveal the secrets you will learn, except to a proper person, within a properly prepared circle like the one we stand in now? Will you swear to keep the secrets from all outsiders, friends, and enemies even if it costs you your life?"

"I will."

"By the ocean, by the moon, by your own blood, will you so swear?"

"I will so swear." I replied, this time I couldn't keep the smile off of my face.

"She has been challenged and tested and she has been sworn," Diana said clearly to the others "and since we all agree, I call on the powers to look at her." Diana raised the dagger above her head pointing at the sky above, then she pointed it in the cardinal directions -east, south, west, and north- then at me and began a "prayer".

_"Earth and water, fire and air,  
See your daughter standing there  
By dark of moon and light of sun  
As I will, let it be done._

_By challenge, trial and sacred vow,  
Let her join the circle now.  
Flesh and sinew, blood and bone  
Katherine now becomes our own."_

There was short pause and a feeling of closure and Diana pulled a ring with a crescent -like the diadem- off of her finger. "This is a token of your membership in the circle." She explained, placing it on my right hand ring finger. Then she hugged me, a ritual hug, and turned back to the others. "The powers have accepted her, I have accepted her. Now all of you have to." She turned me toward the group. Cassie -who was also wearing a shift- was the first to step up. She squeezed me gently and smiled.

"Welcome to the Club." Then Laurel, she gave me a friendly hug and a kiss on the cheek. Melanie followed shortly after, her embrace more formal as she welcomed me to the group. Then Faye wearing a shift similar to the others. I wasn't very excited about this one, but she didn't try anything and soon stepped away. Sean was next, and his hug along with the Henderson brother's afterward made me glad that I wore sweats and a t-shirt to bed, but I was still quite uncomfortable as they squeezed me.

Deborah was next, scowling as usual. Her hug was hard, like she was hoping to break something. Hugging Suzan was like hugging fluff, but she squeezed me in a friendly way and even had a smile for me after. Then Adam stepped forward with a grin and gave me a friendly hug like a brother would give his sister, and then it was Nick's turn. I figured his hug would be quick like Melanie's had been, but he wrapped his arms tightly around me and softly said, "Welcome to the Club Kat." I pulled back and smiled at him.

"So, was I prepared enough?" I asked as we stepped away from each other. He just smiled at me, as they others started shouting.

"Alright! Partay!" Chris yelled and everyone began pulling out snacks.


	6. Chapter 6

I watched everyone pulling out snacks and closing the circle in a bit of a daze. I finally belonged somewhere, and the place that I belonged was in a coven of witches. I was surprised at the fact that it didn't really surprise me. Looking out over my family, I smiled. Suzan, Deborah, Melanie and Laurel were sitting around a small bonfire roasting marshmallows, and throwing them at Doug and Sean when they started teasing them. Chris was moshing by himself. Adam and Cassie were smiling at each other in a way that made me think that they were somewhere else all together. Faye standing away from everyone gazing out at the ocean, and Nick and Diana standing back watching everyone. Nick watching with amusement and Diana with a look of pride. I looked around at my makeshift family and my eyes fell on Cassie, Diana and Faye, all three wearing shifts.

"We have three leaders?" I asked, walking over to where Diana stood. She turned her green gaze on me and smiled.

"Yes. How did you know?" She asked. This time I smiled pulling at the side of her shift. She laughed.

"Okay, so I guess it was a little obvious." She said as I lightly touched the cuff around her arm. They radiated power, I could feel it.

"Where did you find them?" I asked. "I thought the master tools were just a myth." I admitted. She gave me a curious look.

"Cassie led us to them. How do you know about the master tools?" She asked, letting her curiosity get the best of her.

"I may not have grown up with a coven, but my Granny made sure I knew my history." I told her with a smile.

"So you know the story?" Cassie asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"About the puritan's who cried witch?" I nodded. "Of course."

"Is there anything you don't know?" Cassie asked with a smile. I nodded.

"I have no idea why this coven has three leaders."

They got into the story about Black John, the reason my grandmother took me away from this place. They told me about how Adam had found his crystal skull, and how the dark energy that came from it had killed a few people, including the Henderson brother's little sister Kori, the previous principal, and the school's basketball star. They explained Faye's blackmail and how because of the blackmail she became the coven leader. The death of Cassie's grandmother had come very soon after, and Cassie and Adam had been trying to stay away from each other but were outed by Faye, and how she had fallen for Black John and pretty much deserted the coven. And how in the end -the very recent end as a matter of fact- the appointed Cassie the new leader and they all came together and combined their powers to finally finish off the guy who was trying to take them over. When Cassie tried to hand the power back over to Diana, the rest of the coven had decided that three coven leaders was an excellent number.

"I'm sorry I missed it." I said when they finished. Leave it to me to show up _after _the big throw down. Nick who was listening nearby snorted at my annoyed expression. I smiled. "well, I'm going to go mingle." I told Cassie and Diana and then headed over to where Nick was standing. He was pulling out a cigarette despite Diana and Cassie's non-approving looks. Then as if remembering that I too smoked he held the pack out to me.

"Want one?" He asked, I smiled but shook my head.

"I better not, I might get tackled or something." I told him, and he glanced over my shoulder to where where the two girls were standing.

"Yeah...you might." He said smiling. Our eyes met and held, and something warm and wonderful built between us. And then something launched at me from behind almost knocking me over. Nick reached out to steady me, and I turned to see my attacker in the form of a German shepherd with happy brown eyes and a wagging tail. My annoyance immediately turned to my animal loving self and I dropped to my knees and reached out to let him smell my hand.

"Well, hello there." I said lighting touching his nose.

"Raj! What are you doing here?" Adam asked the dog coming up to us. There was still an air of tension that hung between Nick and Adam but neither of them said anything to the other.

"Raj, huh? I think I remember Cassie telling me about you." I said running my hand along the dog's back.

"Sorry Kat. He gets excited and then just acts." He said with a sheepish smile. I smiled back.

"No, it's fine. He's very handsome." I said finally standing. The rest of the group had gathered around.

"Raj, sure does like the new girls." Sean said looking between me and the dog. I shrugged.

"Animals are always like that around me. Even wild animals." It had always been that way. I'd gone to a zoo in Georgia before, and when we walked by the tiger cage and I had said _hello _to one of them, the Tiger followed me all around the edge of his cage until he just couldn't see me anymore.

"Well animals can sense things about people." Melanie said, eyes thoughtful. I nodded, I had heard that before too.

"We've never had an animal expert in the group." Adam said with a smile. "Melanie is our crystal expert, Laurel is our plant expert, I guess that makes you our animal expert." I smiled at the thought of having a sort of title in the group.

"I supposed it's fitting since I was animal obsessed as a kid." I said, trying to play off the surge of happiness that was building. For a moment, everyone -except for Faye who looked upset and Deborah who was scowling...again- was smiling at each other. "Alright!" I shouted a little too loudly, "Let's party!" And I grabbed Chris and Doug, pulled them a little ways away and started a mini-mosh pit that Laurel and Sean soon joined. And then to my utter disbelief, even Deborah jumped in. Her scowl fading a little as we all bounced off of each other to the tunes that Chris had provided which was one of the greatest bands of all time. Diana, Adam, Cassie, Nick, Suzan, Melanie and Faye all stood back watching us with wide eyes. Then Adam grabbed Cassie and twirled her around in a rock' n roll waltz of sorts. I wasn't sure how long I'd been moshing, but breathing heavily I made my way to the small cooler near Diana and the others and grabbed a water bottle. I gave her a big grin.

"Whew, I'm tired." I said falling back in the sand, she laughed.

"So does that mean you're finished?" She asked as I stood up again. I laughed out loud.

"No." I said grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the others. She dug her feet down into the sand to slow my effort.

"No, no. I'm okay over here." She said both laughing and struggling to get away.

"Oh come on. We're not hurting each other. Guys help me!" I shouted to the other people who were standing around -Nick, Suzan, Melanie and Faye- Suzan dimpled and started moving toward us. She grabbed Diana's other arm and helped me drag her. But Diana's efforts against us were too strong. I was about to release her when Nick hurried up behind her and scooped her up, against her laughing protests and placed her just outside the mosh pit. I grinned up at him, trying to repress the sudden urge to hug him. I sighed dramatically. "Fine, we won't put you in the pit, but at least dance with us!" I said, and Suzan and I started bouncing up and down. The sight of Suzan jumping caught one of the Henderson's attention and Doug tripped and fell face first into the sand. Everyone laughed when he came up red faced, but he just returned to moshing. You had to admire his confidence. I was even more surprised than I was to see Deborah join the mosh to see Nick grin wickedly before jumping into the pit himself, and then again when Melanie joined Diana, Suzan and I. Faye stayed where she was looking out over the ocean, ignoring all of our whooping and shouting.

Eventually, we all ended up sprawled out in the sand making jokes and getting to know each other a little better. Now that we didn't have the whole secret circle thing standing between us, it was a little easier. Then we all began yawning, I had no idea what time it was, only that it was probably very early in the morning. We finally decided to wrap things up, and picked our trash up off of the beach, then we headed up the sloping hill back toward Crowhaven Road in a sleepy silence. One by one the coven members started breaking off at their driveways, when finally it was Just Diana, Nick, Deb and me. When we reached my driveway I gave them a sleepy smile.

"Night guys." I said starting to turn toward my house.

"Hey, Kat." Nick called, and I automatically turned toward him. The girls were up ahead of him. "You were amazing tonight."

"Thanks Nick." _you're always amazing_ I finished silently before waving one last time, and hurrying inside with a smile on my face.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone,**

** Sorry it took me a bit to get up a new chapter and I'm even more sorry that it's kinda short. I think you'll enjoy it though. It's crazy, the whole time I was writing it I was listening to music that I haven't listened to in forever! Man I miss good music. Anyway, please enjoy. I'll try to have another chapter up shortly. **

**Thanks =]**

* * *

After only a couple hours of sleep, I woke up Saturday feeling quite chipper. The memory of last night lingered in my mind. Instead of going downstairs right away, I changed some loose pants and and a new shirt and hurried down the stairs. I had way too much energy to just sit around the house. So I went for a jog around the neighborhood and when I still wasn't satisfied I headed down to the beach. I passed by the place where the initiation had happened and couldn't keep the smile off of my face. I ran back up the bluff to the remains of number thirteen and stopped for just a minute to survey the area, and then still full of energy I headed past the houses of my new family. When I got back down to my house I saw Nick's figure retreating back toward his house. I tried to push down that swell of hope that thought he might have been visiting me, I mean there were a number of people living on this street. Maybe he had just got back from visiting Faye... I kept that last thought in mind, it made the hope dissipate a little. I sped up so that I could catch up with him, he didn't hear me coming, so when I got closer -and just because I couldn't pass up the opportunity- I called out a hi and jumped up on his back and he cursed like a sailor. I on the other hand couldn't contain my laughter.

"Kat...I should have known." He said with a snort when I dropped and stood so that I was beside him, and not behind him. I smiled.

"Sorry, Nick. I couldn't resist." I said and he smiled too. "What are you doing up?" I asked when he didn't say anything else. He shrugged.

"Just going for a walk. You too, I see." He said nodding to my clothes as he took a drag from the cigarette he was holding. "Aren't you cold?" I shook my head at his question.

"I had way too much energy when I woke up, decided to run it off. But it won't go away." I explained, even while walking I was still fidgeting. He laughed out loud.

"I see." My smile grew, I loved when he laughed. When we got to his driveway I figured that I would end up on my own again. "You want to come in?" He asked, totally surprising me.

"Uh...Sure if it's okay with your aunt and uncle...and Deborah." He shrugged.

"It's my house too, if she has a problem with it _she _can leave." He said as we walked up the driveway. "Besides, my aunt and uncle are at work." He admitted. And Deb is most likely asleep.. I thought to myself.

"Oh, okay.." I said as I followed him up to his front door. When we got inside, it was pretty much what I had expected, it was neat and tidy. I'd seen his aunt and uncle before and they seemed like the orderly type. Like the other houses it had the big bulky furniture that was the color of Nick's eyes. "Well," I said following him into the kitchen "are you excited about going to the dance this Friday?" I asked leaning against the island in the middle of the room while he pulled out some eggs, bacon and a frying pan. I didn't know he cooked. He turned to look at me, and shrugged.

"I guess. Are you?" I shrugged and tried to keep my nose from wrinkling in disgust but he saw it and laughed.

"I'm not much of a dance person." I admitted. "Diana -and Cassie- kind of conned me into it." He smiled as he pushed the bacon around the pan.

"Yeah, those two are pretty good about conning other people into something." I snorted.

"Your tellin' me." I sighed shaking my head dramatically. His smile grew just a tiny bit.

"You want some?" He asked, nodding toward the frying pan.

"No thank you." I said politely, his eyes flickered down my figure causing a blush to fill my cheeks.

"You're not a vegetarian are you?" He asked, I shook my head.

"Ha, no. Just not hungry. Got any coffee?" I asked.

"Yeah it's right there..." he started to point to the coffee pot but then turned toward me again, watching me bouncing up in down where I stood. He was fighting back a smile when he said "Nope. no coffee." I rolled my eyes. Grabbing a coffee cup out of the drain by the sink, I walked over to the coffee pot.

"If the energy hasn't gone away yet, I doubt that it will." I said, using my Katherine Smith logic. Before I could even grab the coffee pot, Nick turned off the burner on the stove and walked over catching my arm that was reaching for it. I laughed very loudly forgetting that Deb was still asleep. He was laughing too and I mean really laughing as I struggled to break free of him to get the coffee. I had almost broke free when he spun me around and pressed himself closer, placing both hands on the counter on either side of me.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to cut you off." He said. He was a lot closer than I realized before.

"Cut me off?" I asked with a giggle "I haven't even started."

The teasing slowly began to change, and I felt this force trying to pull me even closer to him. We were both still smiling about the previous hilarity when I looked up at him. We just stood there staring at each other our smiles fading slightly, and he very hesitantly reached toward me and lightly brushed my now unruly hair -from our goofing around- back and tucked it behind my ear, carefully gauging my reaction all the while. When he was sure that there was no sign of disgust from him touching me, he began to slowly lean down toward me giving me the opportunity to stop him. We were so close that I could feel his breath on my lips, just a few more centimeters and we would change our entire relationship. We were so, so close when someone cleared their throat. We jumped apart a whole lot faster than we came together, Deb was standing in the doorway looking a little surprised to see me standing in her kitchen. I gave a small hysterical laugh and started walking toward the door.

"Um, I should go..." I said giving Nick a small smile. "Morning Deb." I said, and then I hurried out of the house and disappeared into mine. After that I stayed inside helping my granny in the kitchen until Diana called me informing me that everyone would be meeting at her house soon if I would like to join them. I ran upstairs and put on a green sweater and some jeans and made my way down the street.

* * *

"You've never played _Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board_?" I asked. The whole coven was sitting in Diana's living room, her dad -as usual- was at work. I took a look around the group, there had to be a positive balance between everyone involved. "Nick," I said trying to keep from blushing when he looked at me. "Can you lie down there?" I asked pointing to the center of the room. He gave me a look, so I pulled out my big guns. "Please, you're the calmest guy in the room right now." He looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he stretched out on the floor. "Okay..." I said surveying the group again, trying to pick out four other people I knew Nick trusted. "Diana, Cassie kneel on either side of him. I glanced at the remaining people, Adam couldn't do it, the Hendersons, Sean and Faye were an even worse idea. "Deb, Melanie you go sit next to either of them." To my surprise Deborah went without a fuss. "'kay, now just put your finger tips under him."

"Why don't you want to do it?" Suzan asked curiously. Nick lifted his head off the ground long enough to watch my reaction to her question. I smiled a little.

"I want you guys to try...It's pretty cool." I lied. Honestly my feelings for him could compromise it. I heard Deborah snort, but she didn't say anything. "Alright." I said lighting enough candles to illuminate the room, and turning out the lights.

"Ooh, Kat! Didn't know you wanted me that way." Chris teased, and Doug and I both snorted.

"I want you all to concentrate. You four," I said pointing to the girls on the floor with Nick. "I want you to repeat 'light as a feather, stiff as a board.. Nick, close your eyes and concentrate with the rest of us."

"Psh, who made you boss." Faye grumbled from behind me. I turned to her with an innocent smile.

"For the moment, I did." I said earning snickers from the room and narrowed eyes from Faye, before turning back to the others. "Alright. Go." I said and the four girls started the incantation and after a few minutes -yes minutes- Nick slowly began to lift off of the ground. Everyone gasped, even Faye. "Nick keep your eyes closed." I said moving around to his head. "'kay, very calmly think of coming down." I said, and just as slowly as he had risen, he descended, and his head fell lightly into my lap. He opened his eyes and met mine as I gently pushed his hair back. "You okay?" I asked while everyone else chatted excitedly. He nodded as he slowly sat up.

"I'm fine." He replied with a small smile. Out of nowhere he grabbed my hand and squeezed it before getting to his feet to listen to the others excitement over what happened. I too stood and found myself standing beside Diana, who was watching everyone with a smile playing on her lips. I knew that she had seen it all.

"Are you sure you don't want to go with him?" She asked, again. I nodded.

"I'm sure, you guys made plans, so you will see it through." I said, in my no arguing voice. She just laughed and shook her head.

"Fine. But if you change your mind." She offered and I rolled my eyes.

"You should know, that I don't change my mind very often." I said, and with that. I ran over and tackled Chris, starting an extra mini-mosh in Diana's living room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone!**

** I know it has been a little while since I've updated and I apologize. I have been busy with school stuff. I know this chapter isn't very long, but I promise I will try to make the next chapter longer! I hope you all enjoy! R&R is always welcome.**

**Thanks guys/girls,  
Emily  
**

* * *

When we got back to school, I could sense the change that had literally happened overnight, already affecting the outsiders. I was no longer just the new kid hanging out with the Club, now I was actually apart of them it was the outsiders who considered _me _an outsider. And as if the outsider guys hadn't already been vulgar enough, it seemed that now that I was apart of the most popular clique in school, I was even more prone to the vulgarity. It was really starting to get on my nerves, especially during lunch. Instead of going straight to the backroom like I normally would have, I walked over to the side of the room where the bulletin board with all the upcoming events was located.

"Yum.." One of the jocks moaned as I walked by, and his friends all laughed. I pretended not to notice as I scanned the board, then everyone joined in. The girls sneered in disgust at the -very unwanted- attention I was getting. I too, was quite disgusted as well. I had been standing there for a few minutes looking at the board when I noticed one of the outsider guys from my auto-class coming toward me with a mischievous grin. Suddenly an arm dropped down onto my shoulders and the jocks froze, and I was ready to torch it when I looked over and saw Nick. Nick, my hero, yet again.

"Nick!" I hissed as he moved us toward the backroom. "I almost torched your arm!" I told him with wide eyes. How horrible would it be to burn the arm of the guy I'm totally in love with? He just gave me a small smile.

"You okay?" He asked, the idea of him caring about me giving me butterflies.

"I'm fine." I told him with a smile, meeting his deep brown eyes. Eyes so deep, I felt like I could dive into them and just keep falling. A jolt of electricity passed between us when our eyes met, and we both smiled nervously at each other. I let out a nervous giggle as he pulled his arm away, and we both hurried inside. No one in the Club -besides Faye who was watching us with narrowed eyes- noticed anything that had happened. I took a seat beside Diana who was listening to Cassie, Melanie, Laurel and Suzan talking about their dresses for the dance. When I sat down she gave me a knowing smile before glancing at Nick who was seated near the Henderson brothers, Sean and Deb. "Oh, shut up." I told her before she could say anything. She just grinned before turning back to the others and I pulled out my sketchbook and began to doodle. Not really anything specific, just random zigs and zags but my mind was on other matters. Faye was still giving me those looks like she wanted to kill me, but luckily my being in the circle made any attempts to hurt me impossible. I glanced up when Adam entered the room with a tray filled with food and a huge smile for his dearly beloved, which dissolved into a friendly smile for the rest of us. Adam apparently not wanting to talk about the newest band or dresses -or maybe he just didn't want to sit by Faye- sat down beside me.

"Hey." He said, still smiling. I found myself smiling back.

"Hey Adam." I replied still working on my doodles. I'd moved to drawing a cartoony version of the club at this moment.

"That's pretty good." He said nodding toward the booklet as he began to stuff his face.

"Thanks." I said, working on perfecting my Nick cartoon. When I looked up to study him, he met my gaze with a raised eyebrow and the hint of a smile. I smiled at him before returning to my work. "So, are you and Cassie excited about the dance?" I asked, not knowing what else to talk to Adam about. He nodded.

"Yeah, should be fun. Are you?" He asked as he inhaled his food. I shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess. I've never really been to a school dance." I admitted.

"Really?" He looked surprised. "Do you have a date?" He asked. I shook my head.

"Nah, I figured I'd just go stag." I smiled. "The guys in the Club who aren't grabby are taken." He smiled a little at my compliment.

"Yeah...Wait. Who is Nick going with?" He asked, I really didn't understand the problem between Nick and Adam.

"Me." Diana said entering the conversation. Adam's eyebrows rose in shock. She shrugged.

"It was my idea. She didn't want a grabby date either." I said before he could say anything. "And honestly Adam, I'm not sure that Diana going with Nick is any of your business." I snapped. The room had suddenly gone quiet and everyone was staring at me. Adam didn't look like I had hurt his feelings or anything, he did look a little guilty for trying to have an opinion on whether or not Diana should go with Nick. He nodded a little, apologized to Diana and then went back to his eating. Everyone continued staring at me for several minutes before turning back to what they were doing, it took the Henderson brothers making cat fighting noises, to break the icy tension in the room. Yup, you could always count on those crazy guys to make everyone laugh. I glanced up and met Nicks dark eyes again, he shook his head just a little as the bell finally rang. "I'll see you later." I told Diana, and I grabbed my notebook and headed to the door and Nick met me there. I tried, but failed, to hide my smile.

"You know," He said as we followed the crowd through the cafeteria "you don't have to save everyone." He was gazing down at me with a look I had never seen before.

"I know I don't _have _to," I replied with a small smile, "but Diana shouldn't have to explain herself to Adam." I could feel a blush creeping into my cheeks as our free hands brushed against each other, if it phased him at all, he didn't show it.

"That's true," He said. It was only then that I realized we were quite near _my _classroom door, Nick's class was on the other side of the building, he was walking me to class! We stopped outside of the Calculus room, and I was vaguely aware that people were staring at us. He turned so that we were facing each other, we were close enough that when I looked up to meet his eyes, I could feel his breath on my face. "But, who will save you?" He asked. My smile grew a little.

"That's what I have you for." I said boldly, feeling the heat in my cheeks. This made his cold school facade falter, and a smile appeared, and my breath caught, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. And it was then, I think, that he realized the unintentional power he had over me. He took one step back from me, still smiling.

"I'll see you in class, Kat." He said, before turning and heading back the way we came.


	9. Chapter 9

After that Monday, the school week went by pretty quickly. The hallways were abuzz with excitement over the dance and winter break, it was so close that everyone could just feel it. Even the teachers. So, schoolwork was very limited, we watched movies in most of my classes, and that was fine with me. My relationship with the club was growing, and I was constantly wondering what to do about the Nick situation. That Thursday everyone was filled with excitement, because tomorrow we had no school, and the dance was that night. I, on the other hand, was cringing internally at the thought of a school dance. The girls of the Club had decided that they were going to kidnap me for the day and we were all going to get ready for the dance together. Ugh...

"Don't grunt at me, woman." Laurel snapped, and I realized that I had groaned out loud.

"Oops, you guys weren't supposed to hear that." I said, and a few of the other girls -Diana, Melanie, Cassie and even Deborah- snickered. We were sitting in the backroom of the cafeteria, and the boys had been banned from the room so we girls could talk dresses. "Sorry, I'm just not the dress up type." I said returning my attention to the subject.

"I don't really care if your the dress up type or not." Laurel said, you had to admire her honesty. I rolled my eyes, and started doodling as they all decided what I was going to wear, its not like I had a say in the matter. I felt like I was a child and my Granny was dressing me again. I really didn't like the idea of someone else dressing me. When the bell finally rang on the longest lunch period ever, I left very quickly, and practically ran to Calculus, just to get away from the girls. During class, I sketched a picture of the only person I couldn't seem to get off of my mind. I was very surprised when, after the bell rang, I walked out of my classroom and found Nick leaning against the opposite wall, I could feel a smile stretching across my face as I walked over to him.

"Hey you." I said, my voice wavering a little as his dark eyes ran over me -it seemed that he was becoming bolder.

"Hey." He greeted me with an almost flirty smile, this was a Nick that I had never seen before. I'm sure my surprise was showing, because his smile only grew. "How was lunch?" He asked.

"Oh, my gosh! You guys are never ever going to be kicked out again." I said momentarily getting over his presence. "They were all trying to decide how to dress me for tomorrow night!" I added, glad to have an outlet. He snorted, and looked me over again. I was wearing jeans and a dark green long sleeved shirt.

"I think you're old enough to dress yourself." He stated as we walked down the hall.

"Agreed." I stated as we neared the classroom. I really didn't feel like putting up with the boys in auto-shop today. I would probably end up blowing them up. "Hey Nick..." I slowed my pace, he slowed his to match mine.

"Yeah?" He asked, looking down at me.

"I really don't feel like going to class...Do you think you can cover for me?" I asked, and to my surprise he laughed out loud, like real laughter, and it was adorable until I remembered he was laughing at me. I scowled at him. His laughter dried up a little.

"Do you really think you can skip without me?" He asked with a daredevil smile. My scowl dissolved into a wide smile.

"Fine then. Lets go." I said, and we headed toward one of the less noticeable entrances, and slipped outside and down to my car. I tossed him the keys, earning a very surprised look from him. "Please, go easy on her. She's an elder." was all I said as I slid into the passenger seat.

"Where to?" He asked looking over at me from behind the steering wheel. I shrugged.

"I don't know. How about the beach?" I said, and he started the engine and we were off. It didn't take us long to get back to Crowhaven Road, and when we pulled into my driveway I saw a bit of paper stuck in the crack in the doorway. I jumped out of the car and headed up to the house, pulling the note out, I couldn't open the door since Nick had my keys. It was a note from my Granny telling me she's gone to the mainland with the other crones to do a bit of shopping and they would probably be out for a good part of the afternoon. "Come on." I said when Nick handed me the keys, and I unlocked the door and stepped inside with him close behind. I headed straight for the kitchen, and began digging through the cupboards, brewed a quick pot of tea and poured it into a thermos and grabbed a couple snacks. Nick watched me for a minute and then began taking in the room. Our kitchen was a lot like his and probably most of the other houses on the road, but he walked around examining everything. "Ready?" I asked after placing everything in a small bag.

"Yeah." He said, and we left my house and walked down to the beach. As we walked side by side our hands brushed against each other, and we were constantly peeking at each other to check out our reactions. Luckily, neither of us seemed repulsed by the action. Once we found a good spot, I spread a small blanket out and set the bag down on top of it to keep it from blowing away. The wind was a lot cooler down here by the water, it sometimes stung when it blew. Nick sat down and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and his lighter, but the wind kept killing the flame, so I knelt down next to him rubbing my hands together to build up the friction, and then when my fingers got hot enough, I cupped a hand around the end that was hanging from his lips, and snapped the fingers of my free hand. Nick's eyes widened a little when a small flame erupted from the tips of my fingers and lit his cigarette. I smiled.

"Sorry, I should have warned you." I told him, settling myself so that I was angled toward him. He shook his head with a look of amazement.

"No, no. It's just... wow.." He said, smiling a little as he offered me his pack. I was going to decline, but considered my nerves and accepted.

"Thanks." I said, scooping up his lighter this time. It took a couple of tries because of the wind, but eventually the end of the cigarette lit and I took a long drag from it. He shook his head as he watched me. "I know, girls smoking isn't very attractive." I said with a grimace as I blew the smoke back out.

"What? No, that's not it." He said with a snort. "It...You...I mean..." He struggled for something to say, but ended with shaking his head again and gazing out into the roaring ocean. I was amazed, Nick wasn't really the most talkative person, but I had _never _seen him speechless. After a minute or two he seemed to find words, "I just...I feel like I know you right?" He said, still struggling "and then you just surprise me all over again. It's..." He dark eyes bore into mine as he tried to arrange his thoughts. "Kat, you're amazing." He finally said, and I was forced to look away as my cheeks filled with color. We sat in silence for a little while, him watching me watch the ocean. It wasn't awkward, it was actually quite peaceful, but me being the kind of person who can't sit still for a long period of time, I began untying my shoes and then pulled my socks off and rolled my pants up to my knees."What are you doing?" He finally asked. I smiled.

"I'm going to go get my feet wet." I told him, jumping to my feet. He looked at me like I was crazy. (It kind of made me wonder if he wanted to take back his earlier statement.)

"Are you kidding? You'll freeze." He said, also jumping to his feet. I grinned.

"Nah, I'll be fine. You should come with me." I said, taking a few steps backward toward the water. He surprised me by pulling off his shoes and socks, a mischievous grin on his face. I took another step back, and he took a step forward.

"Well, if you're going to get pneumonia, than I guess I will too." He said, before charging toward me. I let out a girly squeal as I turned and tried to get away -it didn't work out very well. Before I could even take three steps he grabbed my waist and swung me around earning another shriek, he just laughed in my ear. As I struggled to get away from him, I shifted my weight back and we tumbled to the sand. He grunted from the impact and I began giggling uncontrollably as I rolled off of him and onto my front.

"Are you okay?" I asked, still giggling. He grunted again, and I assumed it meant he was. After climbing to my feet, I held out my hand to help him up. A little sand had managed to attach itself to his dark hair and I very hesitantly reached up to brush it out. He met my green eyes with a small smile as I continued to brush the sand from his hair and then my own smile grew when I realized that cool, calm, no one can touch me Nick was shivering. "Are you cold?" I asked, just to see if he would admit it. He shrugged like I figured he would, and I grabbed his hand, lacing my fingers with his and sending a gentle wave of heat into him. A smile full of wonder lit his face.

"Kat, your amazing." He told me, squeezing my fingers, as I led him back over to the blanket. I didn't say anything, instead I let go of his hand and pulled out the still warm thermos and poured him a cup of tea. "Aren't you cold?" He asked catching my hand, I continued to send him waves of warmth -I was his own personal heater.

"No, I don't really get cold." I admitted.

"You know," He said suddenly "I don't even know your birthday." It was true, I knew about the birthday season that started with Nick.

"My birthday is on Christmas." I told him, he looked surprised.

"Sean is older than you?" He asked in disbelief. I nodded.

"Yeah, but just by a couple of days, like the rest of you." I pointed out.

"True..." He said. "You ready to go?" He asked, and I thought about it for a minute. We had been out here for a while. The sky was already glowing orange from the coming sunset.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I said, and we gathered our things and headed back up the bluff toward my house. When we got to my front door, I smiled. "Are you sure you don't need me to walk you home so you don't freeze?" I asked and he smiled.

"Nah, I think I'll make it okay." He said, his eyes running over my face. "You look pretty burnt out." He stated. I was, when I used large amounts of magic it wore me out.

"Okay... Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow night." I said with a small smile. He nodded, also smiling a little.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow... Night Kat." He said, and with that he ran down the steps and headed toward his own house. I watched him until I couldn't see him anymore, and then went inside. That night, I fell asleep with a smile.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey!**

**I know this is really short, but I just wanted to get it up since I haven't posted in a while.**

**Thanks everyone for all the awesome reviews!**

**Enjoy =]  
**

* * *

The next morning -the morning of the dance- I woke early. I knew that the girls would be over soon to torture me, and I wanted to be fed and calm before hand so that I wouldn't end up torching them when I became annoyed. So, the first thing I did, was grab my carton of cigarettes and head outside where I sat on the porch in the cool morning. The sky was all gray clouds, and not even a hint of blue sky, it made me feel a little better to think that the sky was in a downer kind of mood too. I was in the kitchen making some french toast when someone knocked on the front door, so I ran quickly to get to it hoping that my toast wouldn't burn.

"Good morning, Kat." Diana said when I opened the door. She wasn't alone, all the girls except for Faye were standing on my lawn. I didn't even bother asking where Faye was.

"Hey, come on in." I said, and with that I hurried back into the kitchen to flip my toast. The kitchen was soon filled with teenage girls. "French toast?" I offered and there was a chorus of yeses. As I worked on the toast, Diana smiled at me, then grabbed a serving dish out of the cabinet and sat it down beside me so I could stack the toast, then she set plates around the table in front of each girl. "So, what's on the agenda for today?" I asked, and everyone began talking at the same time. Diana and I exchanged an amused glance.

"We thought that you would like to see your dress." She explained, interrupting everyone else. They all made sounds of agreement. I finished the last of the toast, grabbed the dish and some honey before setting them in the middle of the table and taking my place among the girls.

"Don't worry, Laurel." I said as she examined a piece of the toast. "It's all natural." She glanced up from the toast and smiled at me. Cassie and Suzan snorted.

"Thanks, Kat." She said happily biting into it.

"Just trying to do my part." I replied dryly. It surprised me when Deborah cracked a smile at my joke.

The rest of the morning was spent listening to the girls describe their dresses, shoes and dates. Before I knew it, it was time to head up the road to Suzan's house to start getting ready. It was a little weird when I realized how nervous I really was about the dance. I had a feeling that compared to the other girls, I would just look silly in my dress.

"Don't you think it's kind of odd, that both you and Nick magically disappeared from school during the same period, yesterday?" Deborah surprised me by asking. She was glancing at her reflection nonchalantly beside me, as if she was just checking her make up. I gave her a teasing smile.

"Why yes...That does seem a bit odd." I said, her lips quirked a little. "Must have been a flu bug or something." I added, my smile growing. She snorted, looking into the dark green eyes of my reflection, a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth.

"Yeah, guess so." She said before turning away. I was still smiling as I soaked in the tub in the steamy bathroom, I wasn't using any oils to allure, just rose water with a hint of mint, and I used the same to rinse my hair. When I got out though, Laurel was trying to put all kinds of magnet oils and stones on me. I held up my hand to stop her.

"Laurel," I said, trying to remain calm, "I don't want to attract anyone. I swear to the great goddess that if you come anywhere near me with those things, I will burn this house down." I finished, letting flames erupt over my arms -I just hoped that my robe wouldn't catch fire. Her eyes went wide, but mostly in annoyance. It was Deborah who came to my rescue.

"I don't think she's bluffing." Her eyes were a little wide as they took in the flames. "Besides, she doesn't need magic to catch a guy." She added, just as Faye walked into the room wearing a clingy red dress that left nothing to the imagination. A sneer crossed her beautiful face, but Deborah just rolled her eyes and turned back to situation. Laurel was looking doubtful.

"Yeah... I guess you're right." She muttered. I gave Deb a very grateful smile.

"Damn right, she's right!" I snapped and with that I left the room to get into my dress. It was a gray off the shoulder dress with little flecks that sparkled silver in the light, the corset bodice was a little tight, but the skirt hung loosely, flowing almost all the way down to the floor and I slipped on a pair of gray ballet flats and a thin silver necklace with a small gray-blue angelite stone - it's used for aligning the physical body with the Aura, and helps us to speak our minds and be more assertive. It is also supposed to help us be in touch with our spiritual guides- hanging from it to complete my outfit. I really didn't want to admit it to myself as I looked into the mirror, but I was actually quite surprised to see how pretty I looked. Melanie had worked my hair into an elegant bun with little twists of hair hanging loose, and my dark red hair looked really bright against the gray making my eyes seem a little brighter too. I took a deep breath before opening the door, and stepping back into Suzan's huge bedroom, all the girls froze taking my look in, and they all -except for Faye of course- broke into huge smiles. Most of them were dressed now too, Suzan in a tight orange dress, her hair sculpted beautifully into braids, Deborah in a short yellow mini dress her hair hanging wildly down her back, Melanie is a dark green dress about the same length as mine her chestnut hair styled in smooth waves, Cassie wore a long elegant blue dress that made her wavy copper hair shine, Laurel was wearing a purple dress that's skirt stopped just below her knee, her brown hair pulled up in an artfully messy bun, and Diana was wearing a simple white dress that only touched her shoulders and the rest hung down loosely -the complete opposite of Fayes. Her hair was elegantly french braided. We were all standing there admiring each others beauty when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." I said before leaving them to finish up and headed for the door. After another deep breath, I opened the door to reveal the boys.

"Kat, you look great." Adam said with a polite smile. I smiled back.

"Thanks. You guys look great too." I replied. They were all wearing suits -except for Nick who was wearing a dark black sweater and black jeans.

"Oh yeah, Kat. You look..." Doug started, he and Chris were looking over me in a way that made me want to cringe. At the same exact time both Adam and Nick smacked each of the Henderson's in the back of the head. Apparently they were more alike than they cared to admit.

"Ouch!" They yelped together, and I had to press my lips together to keep from smiling, Sean let out a snicker. I met Nick's deep brown eyes, there was a small smile on his face as he took in my appearance.

"So, the girls should be headed down here in a few minutes." I told them, and as I finished saying so, all the girls began filing down the stairs. I stepped to the side so that they could be admired. Adam took in the sight of Cassie and they shared a smile that showed they loved each other more than anything in this world. Nick smiled politely when he saw Diana and she smiled back after glancing back to where I was watching everyone with a small smile of my own. Sean was gazing at Faye with wide eyes, and the Henderson brothers were staring between Suzan and Deborah.

"Alright!" Laurel said, "Lets go!" And so we went, all piling into the awaiting cars and started toward the school. It was exactly what I had expected, lame paper decorations, and cheesy music, but it didn't seem to make the dance any less fun for the rest of the club. Adam and Cassie immediately went to the dance floor, Diana and Nick stood off to the side watching and making conversation with Faye standing a little ways away as if she were waiting for the opportunity to steal him away from her. Laurel, Melanie, and Suzan went to find their outsider dates, Sean practically ran up to one of the pretty outsider girls, and she nervously accepted his dance offer. Deb, Chris and Doug were standing with me watching everyone.

"So, you guys play poker in the boiler room?" I asked, glancing over at the three of them.

"Used to." Deb said and Chris and Doug nodded.

"Until Cassie found Jeffrey Lovejoy hanging from a pipe down there." Chris explained, my stomach rolled. Poor Cassie.

"Oh...right, I forgot about that." I said quietly.

"We usually go to the old science building now." Deb added.

"Come on, Kat." Doug said suddenly, he was holding out his hand. I smiled.

"Okay." I said taking his hand, and he led me out onto the dance floor and I have to admit, it was fun. Deb and Chris joined us not long after, and when I looked over I saw Nick and Diana dancing too. Than after a couple dances, Deb, Chris, and Doug headed to the old science building for their poker game. They invited me to join and I told them that I might later, but for now I just wanted to watch everyone. So, I walked over to the refreshment table and was pouring myself some punch when a large hand caressed my waist, and I knew instantly that it didn't belong to anyone in the Club. I turned to find the jock I'd threatened on my first day of school standing behind me with a devilish grin. "What the hell do you want?" I snapped, slapping his arm away from me.

"Well, well well, I thought if I touched you I'd be losing something." He said stepping toward me, I stepped back and bumped into a couple of his friends blocking my path. The first guy started reaching toward me, and before I even had time to think Adam and Nick were by my side. Nick shoved him away while Adam turned to face the others, and I glanced up and saw Cassie and Diana watching from the sidelines. Luckily no one was really paying attention to what was going on, I imagine the only way anyone would have seen the small commotion was if they had already been watching.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" Nick asked, his voice cold as ice. The jock locked eyes with him a dangerous look on his face, before backing away and leaving the area. His friends followed him, all with similar looks of hatred. Nick and Adam both turned to face me.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked, glancing quickly over at Nick before looking back at me, I nodded and gave him a small sad smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied meeting Adam's eyes. He was thinking the same thing I was. It was confirmed that we were all thinking the same thing when Cassie spoke.

"It's never going to end.." She said in a quiet voice.

"It never will." I stated, looking over to where Diana stood silent. Her eyes shown with sadness, and I forced myself to walk over to her, squeeze her hand.

"We should have a meeting..." Nick said, a solemn expression on his handsome face. Diana nodded in agreement.

"Alright, I'll see if I can round everyone up. Where should we meet?" He asked, looking between Cassie and Diana. They consulted each other with their eyes. I hesitated.

"We can go to my house. Granny is over at Laurel's with the crones." I offered.

"Okay." Cassie agreed, "Its too cold to go to the beach anyway." Nick and I both looked at each other then and smiled.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey!**

**I know it's been a while, sorry. I hope this chapter makes up for it!  
**

* * *

Everyone was sitting in my living room in their formal wear, and understandably a few of them looked upset from having to be pulled from the dance, but they were all being good sports. I was quite proud of them. Alone in the kitchen, I was putting a special tea blend together, it was a tea for clear thinking, and I was rummaging in the drawer we kept our minerals in when Nick appeared in the doorway. I couldn't keep the smile off of my face, even in stressful times I could be the happiest girl in the world as long as Nick was around.

"Need help?" He asked, still standing in the doorway, a small smile forming on his lips.

"Sure. Uh, can you look in that cabinet over there for the shortbread cookies?" I asked, and he headed toward the cabinet I pointed to. "They should be in a red tin container." I added.

"'Kay." He said and began digging through the cabinet. I finally found the peridot crystal -the kind Melanie wore for clear thought- I had been looking for and slipped it into the tea mixture, and waited for it to brew.

"How is everything going out there?" I asked, when he set the cookie tin on the counter. He shrugged.

"I'm not sure, everyone is pretty stressed out." He admitted, as I leaned against the counter, my chin resting on my fist as I watched him.

"Well, what do you think we should do?" I couldn't help asking, and he gave me a look that said I knew exactly what he thought we should do. I snorted. "Fighting isn't going to change anything between the circle and the outsiders." He just shrugged. "I'm not even sure its entirely their fault." I added, and he gave me a curious look.

"What do you mean?" He asked as I set the tea pot on a tray with the tin of cookies. I looked him over as I tried to formed my answer, which resulted in him looking a little amused. An unintentional blush crept into my cheeks, and I grabbed the tray and headed out into the living room. Nick snorted a little behind me. "I think Kat might have a theory." He said to the others. A few of them perked up a bit.

"What kind of theory?" Cassie asked, she was sitting in between Adam and Diana holding onto both of their hands. It made me smile a bit, Diana would never hold a grudge against anyone.

"Well you know, about the outsiders..." I said awkwardly, as I set the tray on the coffee table before sitting down beside Nick. I was very aware of the fact that our hands were touching. "I don't think they're themselves... or at least not all of them are." I said nervously.

"...What do you mean they aren't themselves?" Adam asked curiously.

"Yeah, lets listen to the one person who knows absolutely nothing." Faye grumbled.

"Shut up, Faye." I snapped, and she glowered as I continued. "Well, a person's energy kind of... flows, ya know? Some of the outsiders' energy seems fragmented, like there is something is forced inside of them..." I explained.

"Something that's not supposed to be there..." Suzan mused, she may look like an airhead, but she has a surprising insight.

"Exactly." I said.

"Wait, are you trying to say that the dark energy is still here?" Faye asked incredulously, and I shrugged.

"Do you have a better theory?" I asked, and her golden eyes narrowed as she took my question the wrong way.

"Excuse me?" Faye snarled, stepping toward me. If she expected me to cower before her, she must have been very disappointed. Everyone was watching wide-eyed.

"_Faye_," I said holding up my hands in a peaceful gesture "I honestly didn't mean it that way." I added, and she scowled, clearly not believing me. The air around us heated up. I was sure that the rest of the circle could feel the warmth too. A very large ball of fire grew between us, and the circle gasped jumping to their feet.

_"STOP!_" Cassie shouted, but Faye wasn't listening. I could see a few of the members moving our way in my peripheral vision. I was still holding my hands up, but flicked my them away from me, as if shooing something and the ball vanished but the heat remained. More gasps echoed throughout the room.

"Are you _crazy_!" Laurel asked Faye, there was definitely some fear in her eyes, which was completely understandable. Faye didn't say anything. Instead she continued to stare me down.

"Aren't you going to retaliate?" She hissed, venom in her voice. I shook my head.

"No." I responded simply and she flashed the rest of the group a haughty look before storming out of the room. The silence was deafening after the front door slammed.

"Dude..What's her problem?" Doug asked finally, his voice softer than usual. Most of the group was watching me carefully. I shrugged, and sat back down with my head in my hands.

"Maybe we should call it a night..." Adam suggested. "We're all tired." Boy was that true. Everyone started heading for the door and saying their goodbyes, Nick was the last to leave. He placed two fingers beneath my chin and forced me to look up into his dark mahogany eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes running over my face looking for any sign of trouble. I smiled a little.

"I'm okay, just tired." I replied placing my hand over his, and holding against my neck for just a heartbeat before we let our hands fall to our sides. He nodded slightly, accepting my answer, and his lips curved up into a heartbreaking smile.

"Its too bad we had to leave the dance early," He said "I didn't even get to dance with you." My smile grew, and I sighed dramatically.

"I know, guess I better learn how to control myself around the outsiders." I joked.

"Which is a shame," He continued, the only sign of my joke was him rolling his eyes, "because you look...amazing." he finished, and I could feel the heat burning in my cheeks which only made his smile grow.

"Thanks..." I mumbled, I had totally forgotten about being all dressed up until the few moments Nick and I had been alone.

"Night, Kat." He said, wrapping one arm around my shoulders and squeezing me to him, before he headed out the door.

XxXxXxXxX

The next morning I woke with a start, there was something that I absolutely had to do and it could not wait. So, I waited a couple hours until I was sure it was late enough in the morning. While I waited, I helped my Granny in the kitchen drying the herbs as she instructed, and listening to her babble on about all the kids on the street. When she said something about Nick and I, I tuned in automatically.

"Wait, what?" I asked, trying to catch the end of her sentence.

"Oh!" She said with a reminiscent smile, "You and little Nicholas were inseparable when you were babies. Couldn't even put you down to nap when we grandmothers were watching you kids unless you two were right beside each other. It's not surprising that you two have become good friends again..." She continued to babble, as I smiled to myself. What she had just told me, actually did make a lot of sense. When I couldn't stand it anymore, I headed up Crowhaven Road. I hesitated before knocking on the door to house number twelve, and even though what I was about to do was totally in my nature, I still kind of didn't want to do it. Maybe since I was doing it though, it would kind of smooth things over between the two of us. I knocked three times and waited patiently for someone to answer, and after a few minutes Ms. Blake opened the door.

"Good morning, Ms. Blake." I greeted politely, and she smiled. "I was wondering is Cassie was around."

"She is, she's up in her room." Ms. Blake replied, stepping to the side and gesturing for me to come in. "Its just up those stairs." She pointed out to me and smiled.

"Thank you, ma'am." I said before heading up. Cassie's room was the only one with an open door, she had her back turned to the doorway and was sitting on the floor with notebooks spread around her. A few of Diana's paintings hung around her room, and that made me smile as I knocked on the door frame. Her back stiffened and she turned to face me, understandably, she was surprised. We hadn't really spent a lot of time together without Diana present.

"Kat... Hi." She said politely.

"Hey Cassie... I came to talk to you." I explained, so she wouldn't have to fake this awkward politeness for too long.

"What about?" She asked curiously, as I stepped over to the window that faced the ocean, gazing into the gray water as I answered her. I couldn't bring myself to watch her reaction.

"Nick." I stated, when she didn't say anything I turned to face her, dropping to my knees.

"Nick?" She asked after a minute, a little skeptically. I nodded.

"I know that you're with Adam, but I don't try to date guys my friends have dated, unless said friends are okay with it... Besides, you and Nick are good friends now, so I just want to make sure you're fine with it.." I babbled, looking back toward the window. She was quiet for a while, and I could feel her watching me. Perhaps trying to decide if I was worthy of such an honor.

"I've seen you two together.." She finally said, her voice soft, and I looked at her. "I don't think I've ever seen him as happy as he is when he's around you. Not even when we were dating." She admitted, though I knew it wasn't an easy thing to say. "But he's really special." She said suddenly.

"I know." I agreed with a smile. She watched me, a small smile forming, wondering how I knew.

"You know," She said "you didn't have to ask for my permission." She said, turning her smile on me.

"Of course I did. You're my coven leader." Was my reply and her smile grew as I stood to leave. I said goodbye and was almost out the door when she called to me.

"Oh, and Kat.." She said and I turned back to her. "Watch out for Faye." I smiled a dangerous smile.

"Don't worry, I can take care of her if I need to." and with that, I ran from her house all the way down to number two, and speak of the devil. Faye was there in the garage with Nick, and he didn't sound pleased. I stood just out of sight for a moment, listening.

"Why do you keep running from me?" She practically purred.

"You know why, Faye." He replied evenly. She chuckled throatily.

"She's not for you, Nick. She's too good. Do you really want to date someone good?" She murmured, I tried not to laugh.

"As opposed to someone who was helping the guy who wanted to take us over? Yeah, I think I'd rather date Kat. At least she cares about other people." He snapped, and I could almost hear Faye hissing. The build up of pressure was almost tangible, it felt like an explosion was on its way. The something cracked, and I really hoped it wasn't a part for his car. I rounded the corner, deciding it was time to break the whole thing up, and came into view just in time to see Faye kissing Nick. Or trying to at least. Almost as soon as their lips touched, he had shoved her back a couple feet, and then they noticed me.

"Hello, Katherine." She murmured, as she shouldered past me. I looked her coolly in the eye but didn't respond. There was actually a small spark of something like fear in her eyes as she read my face, then she was gone. I stood with my arms crossed over my chest glancing around the garage, there didn't seem to be any damage done. I then looked over at Nick, who was fuming, and walked over to him.

"Kat, I don..." He trailed off when I pressed my finger to his lips, the simple touch making my chest ache, when I let my hand fall he began leaning toward me. Then our lips met for the first time, and almost instinctively my arms reached up to wrap around his neck, and his around my waist pulling me close. All the urges we'd fought against coming out in a surprisingly gentle way. When we finally pulled apart, it was so that he could brush my hair back with a strong hand and kiss my forehead, before just staring into the depths of my green eyes. Then someone cleared their throat, and we slowly pulled apart to face the person. It was Sean, eyes wide with his mouth hanging open.

"What, Sean?" Nick asked, finding his voice before I could.

"Diana said to tell you that we're having a meeting down on the beach... I was about to head to Kat's but, now I guess I don't have to.." He said, laughing nervously.

"Okay, we're on our way." I said, and Sean ran off. "...I'm pretty sure everyone will know soon." I said to Nick, who chuckled.

"I'm sure you're right." He said with a smile as he gazed down at me. My chest felt light and airy, I almost felt like I would float up into the atmosphere, if not for the fact that Nick kept me anchored down, my hand in his.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry it took so long, hope y'all enjoy =]**

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We walked down to the beach hand in hand to meet the rest of the Circle for another meeting, and though I love Diana and that fact that she made me feel super welcome, and because I had someone I absolutely knew I could count on, I was buzzing with pure happiness at the fact that Nick was walking beside me holding my hand. I know it sounds pretty cheesy but he made me feel stronger, like I could face anything, it was a good feeling. The eyes of the rest of the Circle turned to us as we approached, Diana, Cassie, and Suzan were all smiling, Deborah was grinning broadly, Faye was seething, Adam, Melanie and Laurel looked surprised, Sean had his lips pressed together in a line, and Chris and Doug looked very annoyed.

"Why does Nick always get the new girl?" Doug grumbled to an equally disappointed Chris. I had to try really hard not to smile.

"Hey guys." I greeted as Nick squeezed my hand and led me to one of the larger rocks that was sticking out of the sand. There was a chorus of Hellos and I was a little surprised when Deborah sat down on my other side. "So any new theories?" I asked when everyone sat down.

"Not really..." Cassie admitted.

"I think you might be right about the dark energy though..." Adam told me. "You know, that its still hanging around or whatever."

"What makes you think that its still here?" Melanie asked.

"The outsiders have never liked us." Laurel pointed out and it clicked into place in my mind.

"Well, of course they don't..." Diana was saying but I cut her off.

"No wait!" I said and all eyes turned to me. "Were the outsiders acting like this before Adam found the skull?" I asked, and looks were exchanged, but Diana looked excited too.

"Well...no." Diana said. "I mean, they didn't like us, but they weren't as up front about it until after Cassie was initiated." She added.

"And the day before Cassie was initiated was when I found the skull." Adam said, his eyes widening in excitement as he got what we were saying.

"But Black John is gone." Faye snapped.

"Yeah, but Kat said the outsiders aren't themselves." Suzan said, as she studied her perfectly manicured nails.

"So, then what are you saying?" Deborah asked from beside me, she was looking around the circle.

"Kat, you're a genius!" Adam said, his brain obviously moving faster than the rest of ours. Beside me Nick was staring down at the sand, not saying anything. His grip on my hand had loosened, and I sighed pulling my hand away from him and returning to the conversation.

"Um...how exactly am I a genius?" I asked with a snort.

"Well if the dark energy is just hanging around..." He started, and I straightened up, stunned. For a fraction of a second Adam and I smiled at each other.

"Than maybe its just amplifying the way they feel, and making their reaction stronger than it would normally be." I finished for him, and he rushed across the circle and scooped me up excitedly swinging me around. I couldn't stop giggling when he sat me back down, and the rest of the circle was smiling, until Nick stood abruptly, lighting a cigarette.

"Well, now that we've figured that out, later." He said, coldly before heading up the beach, with me staring after him. I met Adam's eyes and he gave a small apologetic smile. I glanced over at Faye who looked smug and shook my head. Cassie was staring after him.

"So...how are we supposed to get rid of the energy?" I asked getting back on topic. "I really don't think it will be anything like how you got rid of Black John.." I added. There were nods around the circle, and everyone turned their attention to the coven leaders, Cassie, Diana and Faye. Cassie shrugged.

"We should probably check out our Books.." She suggested.

"We can talk to the crones too." Diana added.

"We can read his personal papers too...see if there is anything helpful." Adam added.

"I guess the meeting is over." Faye said, and with that everyone got up and started heading back up the beach toward Crowhaven Road. I found myself walking beside Deborah. I was only a little surprised when she spoke.

"DOn't let him push you away." She said, diving right into the heart of the matter. I liked that about Deb. I just shot her a look. "I'm serious. He really does like you. He just has a crappy temper sometimes." She said.

"Well, please tell him to give me a call when he gets over _it_. Whatever it is." Just because I liked him, did not mean that I would put up with him being an ass. Before she turned to head to her house, she nodded and swear I saw a slight smile playing on her lips. What if the _IT _he needed to get over was the fact that he still had a thing for Cassie? This was what I was thinking about as I made my way home.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

I was sitting in the kitchen flipping through my Book of Shadows, while my Granny was chopping away at some greens for a salad. What didn't help was that I had no idea what I should be looking for; I mean, how in the world were we supposed to get rid of evil energy? It wasn't even a tangible matter that we could physically fight. It was even more frustrating because there seemed to be a spell for absolutely everything, _except _for what we needed. So I tried the next best thing.

"Hey, Granny?" I asked, looking up at her from the book. She paused in her chopping and glanced over at me.

"Yes, dear?" She asked. I took a deep breath and asked my question.

"Do you know anything about Black John?" I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been watching her so closely, but when I said his name her face lost all of its color and she suddenly reached up and clutched her chest, gasping for air.

"Granny!" I cried as I ran over to her, where she was leaning heavily against the counter, still gasping. So I grabbed the phone off of the hook and called for an ambulance, despite her protests. I concentrated on moving her to a chair, and when I heard the sirens I ran out and waved them in. It was when they were wheeling my Granny out to the ambulance that she grasped my arm in a surprisingly firm grip, and tried to talk.

"Ma'am you shouldn't talk. Save your strength." One of the EMT's said, but my Granny shook her head and pulled me closer. I could barely hear her words, but when they registered it was the only thing I could understand.

"H-he's... y-your... g-grand...f-father." I stood on the street watching the ambulance drive off, mentally repeating the words over and over again trying to comprehend them.

"Oh, my god..."


	13. Chapter 13

**I know that I've been away for a while, had a lot of stuff to deal with. This chapter gets a little PG-13, so just beware =] Hope you all enjoy!**

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I stood frozen for several minutes, and then ran. I ran down Crowhaven Road, past the last couple of houses and didn't stop until I was at the cemetary standing before my parent's grave, and sank down to my knees. When the realization that my own grandfather had murdered my parents, his own daughter, hit me, I began to sob. What kind of man would kill his own daughter? The answer came instantly; an evil man. I don't know how long I'd been sitting there when I heard the sound of footsteps. I didn't even bother looking, I knew who it was. My soul would have recognized him anywhere.

"Kat?" He sounded surprised. I glanced up at him, and hastily wiped my eyes.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice hollow.

"Just came to visit my folks." He replied, nodding toward the Armstrong stones. He knelt down beside me, and reached toward me and I flinched away from him, ashamed that he would have to touch the grandaughter of such a monster.

"Don't." I whispered, a tear slid down my cheek. "You wouldn't want to touch me, if I told you." He placed two cool fingers beneath my chin, tilting my face so he could see me.

"Told me what?" He asked, I shrugged, I couldn't speak. There was a tight lump of fresh tears in my throat. "Kat...I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier..." A humorless laugh escaped my lips, if only it were that simple.

"It's not that." I told him softly, gazing up into his gorgeous brown eyes.

"Then what is it?" He gently brushed my hair away from my face, looking deep into my eyes.

"H-He's...my grandfather." I watched his reaction, he started to open his mouth to ask the obvious question 'who?', then his brow furrowed in confusion, and then as if he could read my thoughts he got it. His mouth hung open for a minute, before he said anything.

"Black John?" He asked, needing to hear the confirmation. I could only nod, afraid of the repulsion that would follow. It didn't come. Instead of disgust, a look of pure love and understanding spread over his handsom face as he pulled me into his warm embrace. We sat there in the graveyard for hours, just him holding me while I cried. When I felt like I couldn't cry anymore, I pulled away and met his dark brown eyes.

"I have to go to the hospital." I told him quietly, and he nodded in understanding and helped me to my feet.

"I'll drive you." He said, which was just as well, I suppose. I was in no condition to drive.

The ride to the hospital was a silent one, but not in a bad way. Nick understood that I didn't feel like talking, so he didn't bother trying to fill the silence. When we got to the hospital, Nick followed close behind, as we made our way to the desk. The nurse behind the counter directed us to my granny's room and told us that the doctor would arrive shortly with the details. According to him, my granny was fine but she'd have to stay in the hospital for a couple days, and we could see her. So, Nick and I went into the room and sat with her while she slept. We sat and waited for a while, and she woke up once, to tell Nick to take me home and make sure I got some rest, and that she would call me in the morning. With that, we were ushered out of the room, and sent home.

"You really don't have to come in with me, Nick." I told him with a small smile. We were standing on my doorstep, and Nick was insisting on following my granny's orders.

"You think I'm going to let you stay here by yourself tonight? So that you can drive yourself crazy with thoughts of what _could _have happened?" He asked, knowing me too well. I sighed dramatically.

"Fine.." I muttered, pushing my front door open, and heading for the kitchen. Nick came in after, closing and locking the front door behind him. "Are you hungry?" I asked, leaning against the counter.

"Not really." He admitted. "Are you?" I shrugged.

"I don't know." I replied, watching him walk around the kitchen. " I think I'm mostly tired." I finally admitted. He nodded slightly.

"Well then..." He started. "Lets go to sleep." I stared at him wide eyed, and he cleared his throat awkwardly. "If you want.." I felt a nervous smile creeping over my face, as I took in his slightly flushed face. I turned and headed past him and up to my bedroom, I could feel him close behind. When we reached my room, he walked around taking in every detail, sketches of places I'd been, a painted portrait of my parents on the desk, the tidy bed in the corner. He glanced over to where my art easle stood, covered by a cloth in the corner, and then back at me. I shrugged.

"You can look, it's not quite done, though." I said, sitting on the edge of my bed. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, before reaching out and pulling the cloth away from the easle, and then stared wide eyed. It was a lifelike portrait of him, in his winter formal attire, with the expression that had been on his face after he'd seen me in my dress. He stood there for several minutes just staring at the painting. "You... you don't like it?" I asked, standing. Preparing to run. He turned to me, quickly grabbing my arm so that I couldn't bolt.

"It...it's me." He said, sounding surprised. I glanced down at my feet.

"Well, yeah... " I said, not knowing what else to say. I didn't have to say anything else, he pulled me to him and kissed me hard, and the silver cord flashed in the back of my mind. This kiss was different then from all of the others. I knew in that moment, that if I gave in there would be no turning back. I gave in. Soon after our clothing lay in a pile on the floor, and we were entangled in the sheets, as well as each other. The cord pulling tighter and tighter until there was nothing more to pull. When I woke up, the sun was just beginning to slowly make its way into the sky. It was so early that the birds weren't even chirping yet. I stretched out in, still wrapped in Nick's arms, which tightened around me letting me know that he too, was awake. His lips pressed against my forehead and traveled down my face to meet my lips. If only I could wake up like this every morning.

"Good morning." He whispered sleepily, still holding me tight.

"Morning." I yawned and he smiled. His skin was warm against mine. I hesitated, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." He said, pulling a little ways away so that he could peek down at me.

"Did...Did you see the silver cord?" I forced myself to ask, and he nodded once, a small smile on his face.

"I did." He whispered, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Nick, I...I l-" I was interrupted by the phone on the bedside table ringing. I grabbed it, and Nick tightened his arms around me, listening to me talk to my granny. He was the best guy I knew. I smiled, hanging up the phone.

"How is she?" He asked, and my smile grew.

"She's fine." I said, feeling happier than I had in a while.

"And you?" He asked, his mahogany eyes warm.

"Great." I whispered, and he kissed me.

"I'm going to have to go convince Chris and Doug that I'd been there all night." He said, after a few moments of thought. I giggled.

"That shouldn't be too difficult." I said, and he chuckled. Soon we were slowly getting dressed, and headed downstairs to the front door. "Thanks for staying with me." I added softly as we stood just inside the front door. He hesitated.

"Do you have any plans today?" He asked, "Besides going to see your grandma?"

"I'm supposed to go to Diana's for lunch...I guess I'll have to tell them what Granny said." I told him, making a face.

"Okay, I'll see you later then." He said quietly, kissing me on the cheek and stepping off of the porch.

"Hey Nick," I called when he was a few steps away, and he turned. "I...I love you." His eyes grew wide, and a beautiful smile lit up his face as he ran back toward me and kissed me hard.

"I love you too, Kat." He replied, and then he disappeared up the road and I headed back inside to get ready to visit my Granny.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey Peeps,  
I know it's been a while, i've been really busy. I hope you all enjoy the chapter, I plan on getting the next one up in a short amount of time. I've also been entertaining the idea of writing a fanfic about Adrian I. in Vampire Academy, but i haven't quite decided yet. Well, again enjoy and i'll get back to ya soon!**

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The walk to Diana's house was not a pleasant one. I didn't want to have to face everyone and tell them the truth about my grandfather being Black John. I was afraid that they would all decide that I wasn't worthy enough to be apart of them, but it was something that I needed to do. So, I held my head up high, and kept moving. I knocked twice, and took a deep breath.

"Coming." Diana called from inside and my stomach clenched in anticipation, and I wanted to turn around and run but I forced myself to stay. The front door opened and Diana stood smiling before me. "good morning, Kat." she greeted and I gave her a tight smile and stepped inside.

"Hey.." I said, quietly.

We were all sitting around the table in Diana's dining room talking gift ideas for the boys when the doorbell rang. Since I was the only one not throwing out ideas, I got up. When I opened the door, I was instantly enveloped into the familiar arms of Nick, kissing him. After a few moments of some seriously intense kissing, someone cleared their throat reminding me that Nick and I were standing in the open doorway. Completely shocked at unusual PDA from Nick, I pulled away and flushed when I saw Adam, Sean, Chris and Doug standing on the steps behind us. Oops.. Adam looked as surprised as I felt, and flashed me an amused smile before heading into the dining room. Sean, eyes wide, glanced over at Nick whose expression hardened and he hurried inside. Chris and Doug glowered, grumbling under their breath the whole way in. Nick watched them go, amusement buried in his handsome mahogany eyes, and when they rounded the corner he turned back to me. Just that look reminded me what we had done last night and I blushed. As if he could read my mind, Nick smiled and caught my face gently between his hands before kissing me gently.

"Hi." I said, a little dazed, and he chuckled.

"Hi." he replied, a genuine smile on his face. "Have you...?" he asked his voice soft. I shook my head, I hadn't told them about Black John being my grandfather yet. I hadn't been able to bring myself to do it. He nodded, understanding. He brushed my hair out of my face and caught my hand, leading me into the dining room. Faye, Chris and Doug were the only sullen people in the group today, as Nick and I walked into the room hand-in-hand, everyone else called out friendly greetings to him. I couldn't sit down, so instead I cleared my throat, ready to get this over with.

"I have something I need to tell you all." I said, squeezing Nick's hand tightly as everyone turned their attention to me. He squeezed back reassuringly. I met Diana's friendly expression with one of slight fear and her's turned worried.

"What is it, Kat?" She asked, holding my gaze. I took a deep breath.

"You all know that m grandmother was admitted into the hospital the other day...but I couldn't bring myself to tell you why." I glance over at Adam and Cassie, she looked confused, but I was surprised to see that Adam was giving me a small reassuring smile, as if he already knew what I had to say. "I went home the other evening and tried to get some information out of my granny about Black John but it wasn't quite what I'd expected. My granny told me that Black John was my..." I didn't know if I could say it, I tried again. "He was my..." I couldn't do it. Nick squeezed my hand.

"Kat's grandmother told her that Black John was her grandfather." Nick told them for me, and everyone gasped, except Adam.

"What?" a few people exclaimed. I winced.

"It's true." I told them, shutting off their outbursts. "He even killed my mother, his own daughter, because she stood against him along with your parents." I said, a tear rolling down my cheek. Diana rushed forward and hugged me tightly, letting me know that she still accepted me as one of them. And when she pulled away I glanced around the room to see that no one was looking at me any differently than they had before, except for Faye of course. I met her gaze steadily, and she glowered. Letting go of Nick's hand, I stepped forward.

"Yes Faye?" I asked, and she stood there waiting until everyone was looking between the two of us to speak.

"Oh, I was just wondering, if Nick hadn't been here would you have told us this little fact at all?" She asked, and the rest of the group exchanged nervous glances. I had to work hard to keep the glare off of my face. What a bitch.

"Yeah." I snapped. "It would have been harder than it was, but I would have told all of you." Her glare grew and she started to say something else, but i cut her off. "If Adam and Deborah hadn't followed you that day and found out you were secretly meeting with the bastard himself, would you have told the coven?" I countered. I knew that they didn't bring this up anymore, because it had passed, but she'd pissed me off. Her expression turned into a look of pure hatred, and she glanced around the room for support, but everyone averted their gaze. I glanced over at Cassie who understandably looked shocked. "So, it looks like we're cousins, of some sort." I said, and with that I left -before I could make something bad happen- letting the door slam behind me.

* * *

"You really need to listen to the doctor." It was later in the evening, and I was leaning against the kitchen counter talking to my Granny on the phone. She snorted in disgust.

"This doctor is a quack." She mumbled into the phone, "He wants me to stay even longer."

"If he thinks you need to stay a little longer, than I think that you probably should. He may be a quack but he's also a doctor" I told her, and she grunted. I smiled to myself.

"Well, I'm going to try and get some rest. You get some rest too." Granny said.

"I'll try." I said, and I turned getting ready to hang up the phone, and jumped when I noticed Nick standing right behind me."Shit!" I shouted, smacking him in the shoulder. He doubled over in a fit of laughter.

"Katherine Marie Smith, you better watched your mouth young lady! What in the world is the matter?" She chatised me, and I scoweld at Nick -who was still laughing his ass off.

"Sorry, Granny. A...uh..spider jumped on me. I'll talk to you in the morning." And the other line clicked off. I hung the phone up and smacked Nick again. He just started laughing all over again. "You got me in trouble." I snapped, and he snorted. I glared, and he straightened up trying to compose himself.

"Sorry." He said trying to be serious and failing. I rolled my eyes.

"How'd you get in here, anyway?" I asked, his playfulness making it hard for me to be angry with him. He smiled slightly.

"You didn't lock the front door." He replied stepping forward. "I took the liberty of locking it for you." He added with a wink, and I smiled.

"I bet you did." I teased, and his smile grew as he took another step toward me. I pushed up onto my toes and kissed him.


	15. Chapter 15

**I know it's been a while, sorry! Anyone watch the first couple of episodes of The Secret Circle on CW? I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed with their Nick character! Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter...this is really just a filler for the next one. =D Please excuse any spelling mistakes, my brain is too tired to function correctly.**

**Laters!**

* * *

Eventually we ended up back in my room. I was laying on my back -trying to ignore the fact that Nick was laying on his side gazing down at me, and he had no shirt on which was not my doing by the way- holding Nick's hand in mine, studying it.

"So what do you see?" He asked, smiling. I fought back my own smile.

"hmm..."

"Hmm?" Nick repeated his smile growing.

"hm..I see..." I stared running my finger along the lifeline of his hand. "a hand!" I finished with a grin, and he rolled his eyes, before rolling onto his back. I giggled and rolled until I was on my stomach lying on top of him. He lifted his head slightly to smile at me and I stretched so that I could kiss him.

"You're a nut." He told me seriously, as I snuggled against him. Goosebumps rose on my skin when Nick's hands found their way under the back of my shirt and he began tracing invisible patterns with his calloused fingers. I wiggled forward again so that my face was resting on his shoulder.

"I love you, Nicholas." I whispered, my lips brushing his earlobe. His hold on me tightened, and he turned so that he could kiss me. "thank you for not running away when I told you the truth yesterday." I said when we pulled apart. He nodded, face serious except for the twinkle of amusement deep in his mahogany eyes.

"I'm not sure that there is anything you could do to me that would make me run away." he admitted. "I've loved you for a while." I smiled, a little mischievously and he eyed me warily.

"really? Anything?" I asked, and he raised an eyebrow curiously. "even, this?" I asked, and I leaned down and licked his cheek. He groaned, rolling his eyes and dropped his arms from around me. I rolled off of him giggling like crazy.

"Note to self," he started dryly. "You take everything WAY too seriously." still giggling -and not paying attention- I rolled again and crashed to the floor with a loud thump.

"ow, shit." I muttered, sitting up to find Nick laughing so hard, his handsome face was bright red. Damn him and his adorableness that won't let me stay mad at him. "you know," I said standing with my hands on my hips. "you don't HAVE to stay here tonight." he pressed his lips together to hide the laughter but his eyes were still bright with amusement. I rolled my eyes and left the room, of course he wasn't far behind me.

"where are you going?" he asked, sounding as if he were worried that he had really offended me. I turned and smiled at him all false annoyance gone from my features and his worry turned to relief as we entered to kitchen.

"food!" I stated, I mean what else did I have to say, we were I the kitchen. He snorted leaning against the counter as I rummaged through the refrigerator and cabinets. "breakfast?" I asked, I needed to go grocery shopping.

"sounds good to me." he said. Soon after we were sitting at the table and he was shaking his head in disbelief at the amount of food sitting between us. I glanced down and grinned sheepishly. "Uh, are you planning on feeding a small army?" He asked, glancing down at the mound of food before returning his attention to me. I smiled.

"No, but if one shows up, at least we'll be prepared!" I replied, piling some of the food onto my plate, Nick rolling his eyes, follwed suit. A bemused expression forming on his face. "What?" I asked, though I was pretty sure I already knew what was coming.

"What's going on with Faye?" He asked after a moment, watching my reaction carefully. I shrugged taking a bite.

"She doesn't like me." I offered, not that it was a secret. He nodded once, thinking about it.

"Any idea why?" He asked, and I snorted earning a curious look. Guys were so oblivious.

"You mean besides the obvious reason?" I asked, gesturing between us, and his eyes lit up with understanding. "Other than that, I'm not really sure what her problem with me is." I admitted, this was met with another nod. Silence followed, though not awkward. We sifted through our thoughts as we ate.

"Do you not like her?" He asked, after a moment. That was a complicated question, so I tried to answer it as honestly as I could manage.

"...I don't think I know Faye well enough to not like her." I said, collecting the dirty dishes, and he nodded once following me to the sink. "I don't exactly like her trying to provoke me though." I added, and he smiled.

"Maybe not, but you diffusing that fireball was pretty bad-ass." He told me and I smiled.

"Yeah? Think you could take me?" I asked. He slid his hands around my waist from behind me, and his lips brushed my ear.

"I know I could." He murmured, sending chills through me. Freezing my dish scrubbing, I glanced back at Nick curiously. He was smiling, but there was this intense look in his dark eyes that made my stomach do flipflops. Instantly all thoughts of Faye and Black John vanished from my mind, when his lips brushed against my neck and somehow we ended up back in my room temporarily forgetting the worries of the world.


End file.
